Cotton Fields

Cotton Fields

Slavery in the U.S.

The workers are being forced to pick cotton, which is grueling and hard because of sharp thorns, very hot days, little water, and little food. They are carrying massive buckets of cotton. They would often have to fill up x number of buckets before they could stop for the day, in order to produce the maximum amount of cotton. This would be a common site to see in the southeast United States from the 1600s - 1800s. Cotton was a large part of the South's economy during this time because the textile industry was booming. The North's industry was based around the textile industry and exportation from the South. This capitalistic approach to economy was a major cause to slavery in the South. Because cotton was in such high demand, there was also a high demand for a controllable labor force that could produce as much cotton as possible. In 1860 cotton was responsible for nearly 86% of export profit. Capitalism is often thought of as an economic system in which private actors own and control property in accord with their interests. Plantations and the South’s economy is a perfect example of a capitalistic economy, because the plantation owners/ farmers own their property and make profit concerning their own interests. An example of supply and demand in the South's capitalistic economy would be when the cotton gin was introduced. It increased the demand for cotton, which meant the supply of cotton also had to increase. It made the demand for slave labor rise exponentially through the plantations in the South. In 1860 more than half of the slave population lived in four major cotton producing states.

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