8.7.1
Describe the development of the
agrarian economy in the South, identify the locations of the cotton-producing
states, and discuss the significance of cotton and the cotton gin.
Agrarians, furthermore known as the Fugitives these days, were an
assembly of American poets and critics based at Vanderbilt University. The
Agrarians defended the aristocratic heritage of the South; an agrarian society
they felt was being rampaged by industrialization. Those agrarians that were
explained existed around the twentieth century. The kind of agrarians that lived
from 1800 to the mid-1800s were much more harsh than today and they weren’t
called the Fugitives that time.
Eli Whitney left New England in 1792 to head south, but had no idea that within the
next seven months he would invent a machine that would profoundly alter the
course of American history. He once thought of becoming a lawyer because he had
joined Yale and had just graduated. Once he arrived in Georgia he saw that the
Southern planters there needed some major help. He decided to build a machine
that would help the planters remove the seeds from cotton plants. Whitney knew
that if he could invent such a machine, he could go to the government and ask
for a patent, which would have exclusive rights to his invention, which would
make him rich. In hopes of making a patentable machine, Whitney put aside his
plans to study law and instead tinkered throughout the winter and spring in a
secret workshop provided by Catherine Greene. Within months he created the
cotton gin.
After the invention of the cotton gin, the yield of raw cotton doubled each decade after 1800. Demand was
fueled by other inventions of the Industrial Revolution, such as the machines to
spin and weave it and the steamboat to transport it. By mid-century America was
growing three-quarters of the world's supply of cotton, most of it shipped to
England or New England where it was manufactured into cloth. Even though Whitney
invented such a great invention, there was also a bad cause to it. The invention
caused the growth of slaves, cotton growing became so profitable that the planters easily made
money and owned more land and slaves. In 1790 seven slave states emerged all
because of the invention of cotton gin. Congress had to ban the importation of
slaves from Africa in 1808. By 1860 approximately one in three Southerners was a
slave. Cotton gin affected many aspects of Southern life.
In order to figure out which states produced cotton, you would have to find out which states had a lot of
slavery. More slavery meant that there were more slaves to pick the cotton.
Cotton Production started in 1790, and it first started in the states South
Carolina and Georgia. In 1800 cotton-producing states increased adding three
more states, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. In 1810 a cotton-producing
state emerged and it was Louisiana. Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, South
Carolina, and North Carolina’s mass of cotton also increased amount. In 1820,
another state emerged and it was Mississippi. The rest of the states’
cotton-production increased. In 1830, Florida and Arkansas also became a
cotton-producing state and the rest of the states’ cotton mass greatly
increased. In 1840, all states’ cotton rate greatly increased. In 1850,
Louisiana and Arkansas’ cotton merged together and went into Texas and all
cotton-producing states seemed to have their cotton produce merged together into
one giant cotton-producing state. In 1860,Oklahamo started producing cotton and
all the other cotton producing states’ cotton produce linked
together.
Cotton has a role in everyday life and has a different role in different places. At the
time of 1800 and the mid 1800 wool was needed for clothing. More Cotton meant
more slaves. President Lincoln saw this and decided to stop importing slaves.
The farmers decided not to and that started the Civil War. Cotton was extremely
important but was also very common. They used cotton for suits, clothing and
many other things that included cotton sacks and bags. Cotton Gin was extremely
important because it would take less time to remove the seeds for the farmers
and for the slaves. Also it could make the farmers richer so the farmers needed
it. The only bad thing about this invention is that this invention raised the
population of slaves.
More Information:
1.
Grolier Encyclopedia, Fugitives and Agrarians
2.
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/DB_Search/db_search.cgi?setup_file=activity_db.setup.cgi&include=true&grade8=American+South+1800+1850&submit_search=Submit+These+Search+Parameters
3.
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~atlas/america/interactive/map15.html