The Cotton Boom
The Cotton Boom, 1830-1861
massive growth, part of the broader Market Revolution
by 1850, US produced 2 billion pounds of cotton per year (over 60% of all exports)
key to southern and northern economies
made slavery more profitable and more brutal
Origins of the Cotton Boom
industrial textile mills in northeastern US and Britain
huge international market
trans-atlantic credit system
steamboat transportation
additional land:
LA purchase (1803)
Eastern Indian Removal (1830-42)
colonization of Texas (1820-45)
the cotton gin
short-staple cotton strains
The Domestic Slave Trade
cotton industry led to a huge demand for enslaved labor
filled via the “internal” or “domestic” slave trade
1790-1860, about 1 million enslaved people were sold or relocated
from “upper” to “lower” south
The Cotton Boom
The Cotton Boom, 1830-1861
massive growth, part of the broader Market Revolution
by 1850, US produced 2 billion pounds of cotton per year (over 60% of all exports)
key to southern and northern economies
made slavery more profitable and more brutal
Origins of the Cotton Boom
industrial textile mills in northeastern US and Britain
huge international market
trans-atlantic credit system
steamboat transportation
additional land:
LA purchase (1803)
Eastern Indian Removal (1830-42)
colonization of Texas (1820-45)
the cotton gin
short-staple cotton strains
The Domestic Slave Trade
cotton industry led to a huge demand for enslaved labor
filled via the “internal” or “domestic” slave trade
1790-1860, about 1 million enslaved people were sold or relocated
from “upper” to “lower” south