“Cotton is King!” and The Planter “Aristocracy”

“Cotton is King!” and The Planter “Aristocracy” By: Austin Smith Alex Martin del Campo Period 7 Nov 17, 2008

The South and the Slavery Controversy • Slavery faced an uncertain future, some wanted it and others opposed it. • The introduction of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin jumbled all those predictions. • The innovation greatly made cotton the key crop in the South, and it dangerously led to the dependence on cotton.

Origin of Cotton • The cotton industry grew rapidly as the Civil War came. • Most of the South’s supply of cotton came from the Deep South and the Gulf States. • The cotton industry also depended on the fertility of the soil because the soil would produce bigger yields.

Trade • Northern shippers depended heavily on the profits of the cotton trade. • The merchants would load bales of cotton at Southern ports and then they would sail towards England and sell their cargo for money. • To a degree, both the North and the South depended on the labor of the slaves. • The most important manufacture in the 1850’s was cotton cloth, which about one-fifth of the total cotton output was directed to.

Trade (cont.) • Cotton accounted for more than half of all American exports after 1840. The South alone produced more than half of the worlds supply of cotton. • This asset held the other nations in a bondage with the U.S. Without “King Cotton” the empires of both Britain and France would decline because the factories would have to close their gates.

Slavery • Due to the increasing profits yielded from the cotton, more and more slaves were bought so they could produce more. • Cotton, in a sense, helped stimulate the cause of the Civil War and made it inevitable.

Aristocracy of the South • South was more of an oligarchy than a democracy • Heavily influenced by a planter aristocracy • In 1850, 1,733 families had 100 slaves each • Contained most of wealth • Sent children to the North for schooling • Hampered public schools in South

Southern Living • Widened gap between rich and the poor • Money provided the leisure for study, reflection, and statecraft • Notably John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis • Had a keen sense of obligation to serve the public • South produced more front-rank statesmen than the “dollar-grubbing” North • An elite British author favored by the South was Sir Walter Scott

Plantation System • Shaped the lives southern women • Commanded a sizeable household staff • Mostly female slaves • Relationships ranged between mistress and slaves • Most slave holding women didn’t believe in abolition

“Cotton is King!” and The Planter “Aristocracy”