Tobacco was initially the primary crop in the South, but soil depletion and price fluctuations led farmers to diversify into other crops like wheat, rice and sugar. However, limitations and failures of these crops resulted in cotton becoming dominant due to its hardiness, versatility and the development of the cotton gin which made processing easier. Cotton production spread throughout the South and by the Civil War it accounted for two-thirds of total US exports and $200 million per year in revenue. The rise of King Cotton drove a dramatic increase in the slave population as slavery expanded westward with cotton production. However, Southern manufacturing remained underdeveloped as the region remained economically dependent on cotton exports and invested in land and slaves rather than industry.

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

6. 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”

7. 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

8. 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???

9. 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?

10. 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

11. Scarlett from Gone with the
Wind, 1939

12. 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

13. 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

14. Brooks & Sumner in
Congress

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