The document discusses the rise of cotton as the dominant crop in the Southern economy. Tobacco cultivation declined due to soil depletion and price fluctuations. Other crops like rice, sugar, and wheat faced limitations and restrictions to certain regions. Cotton proved hardy and could be grown across varying climates and soils. The invention of the cotton gin made processing cotton much easier. As cotton production spread across the South, it became the primary export and driving force of the Southern economy, comprising two-thirds of total US exports by the Civil War. The cotton economy led to a dramatic increase in the slave population across the Deep South as cotton cultivation expanded. However, Southern manufacturing remained underdeveloped, leaving the region economically dependent on the North.

1. The Cotton Economy
p. 299-307

2. Rise of King Cotton
 Tobacco: the first choice in the South!
 Problems:
 Prices subject to frequent depressions
 One went from 1820’s-1850’s
 Wore out the Soil
 Thus, farmers in VA, MD, NC switched to other crops
 Wheat

3. Rise of King Cotton
 Rice:
 Mainly in SC, GA, FL
 More stable, more lucrative
 Demanded high amounts of irrigation
 9-month growing season!
 Competition w/ Caribbean sugar
 Restricted to a very small geographic area

4. Rise of King Cotton
 Sugar:
 Along the gulf coast (LA and TX)
 Quite profitable
 Required intensive labor
 Also a long growing season

5. Rise of King Cotton
 Failures or limitations of the other crops led to
COTTON!
 Hardy, could grow successfully in variety of climates
 Variety of soils
 Cotton gin made processing cotton much easier
 Demand grew very quickly
 1st English textile mills
 2nd New England’s textile mills

8. Rise of King Cotton
 Production spread into SC, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, AR
 Prices were up and down, but overall profitable
 By Civil War, cotton was 2/3 of the total export trade of
the entire US!
 $200 million/year; “cotton is king”

9. Shift in Slave Population
 Dramatic increase in number of slaves in South
 As cotton production moved west, slavery went with it
 Also, a migration of slaves from Upper South to Deep
South
 See maps on p. 301

14. Southern Trade and Industry
 Manufacturing developed very slowly in south
 Total value of textile production in South was only 2% of
value of cotton exports!
 Easy to see why South stayed with cotton!
 Merchants found buyers for cotton, brokers or factors
 Rudimentary banking system
 What do we know about the inadequate transportation
system? Volunteers to discuss?
 “Economic subordination” of the South to the North???

15. The South’s “Colonial
Dependency”
 Why didn’t the South develop a larger
industrial/commercial economy?
 Why did it remain so different from the North?

16. The South’s “Colonial
Dependency”
 Large profits from agriculture
 Capital invested in land & slaves
 Increased dependency on slavery
 Climate not suitable for industry???
 Some claimed Southerners lacked a strong work ethic
 What do you think?
 A distinct way of life; the Southern way; elegance, chivalry;
time moved slower
 Disdain for Yankees, rapid growth

17. Scarlett from Gone with the
Wind, 1939

18. White Society in the South
 Only a small minority in South owned slaves
 Only about 6% in 1850
 The number changes somewhat when you consider that
each family had 5 members in it, so the number was
actually about 25% of homeowners had slaves
 Those who did own slaves typically had only a few
 Yeoman farmers are the majority in the antebellum
South

19. Time to Share
 I will draw a name out, and you will have to share on
the following information:
 Planter Aristocracy & the Cavalier Myth
 Plantation Management
 Aristocratic Values—Honor & Chivalry
 Subordinate Status of Women/The Southern Lady

20. Brooks & Sumner in
Congress

21. Time to Share
 More sharing!
 Other burdens
 Limited educational opportunities
 Hill people
 Close relations with the plantation aristocracy
 Commitment to paternalism
 Limited class conflict