Cotton in the United States

Questions and Answers

What was a key factor in the success of cotton?

The availability of expensive land

The growth of a large labor force

The invention of the cotton gin in 1794 (correct)

The decline of the steam power industry

What was Thomas Jefferson's vision for the United States?

A nation of urban dwellers and intellectuals

A nation of wealthy landowners and aristocrats

A nation of small farmers and families (correct)

A nation of industrialists and factory workers

What was the consequence of the democratization of land ownership in the South?

The decline of the cotton industry

The normalization of slavery as a tradition in the South (correct)

The abolition of slavery

The enrichment of Native American communities

What region was referred to as the 'Black Belt'?

Alabama Signup and view all the answers

What was the primary crop grown in the coastal regions of South Carolina?

Rice Signup and view all the answers

What was the approximate year when steam power became widely available?

1820 Signup and view all the answers

What was the result of the combination of factors that led to the success of cotton?

The westward expansion of the United States Signup and view all the answers

What is depicted on the map published by the US Coast Guard?

The distribution of slave population in the Southern States Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Cotton and the United States

Cotton grew quickly on cheap, widely available land, especially Petit Gulf cotton.
The invention of the cotton gin in 1794 and the emergence of steam power three decades later made cotton a common person's commodity.
Cotton was key to the United States' westward expansion, realizing Thomas Jefferson's vision of a nation of small farmers.

Expansion and Slavery

The democratization of land ownership led to the normalization of slavery in the South.
Indian removal, federal auctions, credit, and the dream of cotton's immediate profit contributed to the growth of slavery.
By the 1860s, slavery had become a deeply ingrained tradition in the South, leading to the split of the nation.

Map Analysis

A 1860 map shows the percentage of slaves in the population in each county of the slave-holding states.
The highest percentages of enslaved people were along the Mississippi River, in the "Black Belt" of Alabama, and coastal South Carolina.
These areas were centers of agricultural production, specifically cotton and rice.

Description

This quiz is about the history of cotton in the United States, its growth, and its impact on the country's expansion. It covers the advantages of Petit Gulf cotton and the role of the cotton gin and steam power in its success.