Chapter 9.1: Southern Cotton Kingdom

1. How would being dependent on a single crop impact the South? Chapter 9.1: Southern Cotton Kingdom EQ: How did the success of cotton and the lack of capital keep the south an agricultural region?

2. Rise of the Cotton Kingdom What does the slogan “Cotton is King” mean? • Cotton was not the only crop grown in the South, but it was the crop that fueled the Southern economy. • “Cotton is King”

3. Cotton Rules the Deep South • Most southerners lived in lived along the Atlantic Coast in the Upper South • By 1850 the population had spread to the inland states of the Deep South • In colonial times rice, indigo and tobacco made up the South’s main crops. • European mills wanted Southern cotton to make into cloth. Cotton was difficult to produce. Workers had to painstakingly clean the sticky seeds from the cotton fibers.

4. How did the cotton gin increase the demand for slave labor? • In 1793 Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin, a compact machine that removed the seeds from cotton. • Southern planters wanted to grow more cotton and the demand for Slave labor to plant and pick cotton increased. • The value of enslaved people increased because of their role in producing cotton. • The upper south became a center for the sale of slaves.

5. Industry in the South • The economy in the South prospered between 1820 and 1860. • Unlike the industrial North, the South remained rural and agricultural. • The South accounted for a small percentage of the nations industry, The entire south produced less manufactured goods than that state of Massachusetts.

6. Barriers to Industry • Agriculture was so profitable, Southerners remained committed to farming rather than starting new businesses. • The lack of capital, money to invest in businesses, was a barrier. • To develop industry requires wealth and most “wealthy” southerners had their money invested in their land and slaves. Planters would have to sell slaves to raise the money to build factories.

7. Most wealthy Southerners were unwilling to do this. They believed that the economy based on cotton and slavery would continue to prosper. • The market for finished goods in the South was smaller. A large portion of the Southern population consisted of enslaved people with no money to buy merchandise

8. What are three barriers to industry in the South? • The limited market discouraged industries from developing. • Some Southerners did not want industry to grow. They believed that as long as they produced cash crops they could set the prices for agricultural goods and generate wealth.

9. Southern Factories • Some southerners believed that by not building industry, they were becoming dependent on the North for manufactured goods. • They argued that factories and workshops would revive the economy of the Upper South, which was less prosperous than the cotton producing Deep South.

10. Why were some Southerners concerned with the lack of industry in the South? • William Gregg opened a textile mill in South Carolina in 1844. • Joseph Reid Anderson took over the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia. It became one of the largest producers of iron in the nation. During the Civil War, Tredegar provided the weapons and other iron products for the Southern forces. • These were exceptions rather than the rule in the South. • For the most part the South remained a region of rural villages and plantations with only three large cities: Baltimore, Charleston and New Orleans.

11. Cotton Production Moves West Why did Cotton production move west? • To keep up with the demand for more cotton, plantations sprang up in the west. • The “black belt” of Mississippi, Alabama provided excellent soil for growing cotton. • The growth of population led to the creation of new Southern states

12. Southern Transportation • Natural Waterways provided the chief means for the transportation of goods in the South. • Most towns were located on the coast or along rivers. • There were few canals and the roads were poor.

13. Why would a lack of rail roads impact the South during the Civil War? • The South built railroads, but on a much smaller scale than the North. • The rail lines were short, local and did not connect all parts of the region. • As a result cities grew more slowly in the South. • By 1860 the South accounted for less than 1/3 of the nation’s rail lines. • This would prove to be disastrous during the Civil War.