Why Did Cotton Increase Slavery

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Pages: 3

Cotton and Its Indirect Increase of Slavery

During the Industrial Revolution era, farming for cotton became more successful. Cotton was in high demand at the time. The North, unlike the South was less industrialized. The South used tools like the cotton gin and slavery was increased in these areas due to the excessive amounts of cotton being produced. As the amount of cotton increased, so did the number of slaves needed. Cotton directly and indirectly increased slavery because of the new invention of the cotton gin, the Industrial Revolution, and the opening of new land in the west. Cotton directly and indirectly increased slavery because of the new invention of the cotton gin. For a while, slavery rates were dropping. Until the new technologies such as the cotton gin were invented. The cotton gin was actually produced by slaves themselves. Suddenly the crop became profitable. As stated in document 3, “Suddenly we could turn a profit on this terribly labor-intensive crop. From then until the Civil War the slave population increased to the astonishing level of 4,000,000.” Cotton production was being produced at a higher rate, and without the slave’s invention the mass production of cotton would not have happened as well as the increase of slaves would not be necessary. Cotton directly and indirectly increased slavery because of the Industrial
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As stated in document one, the slave population starting as “648,439 are slaves, which is thirteen fourteenths of the whole number of slaves in the United States”. When cotton became the main source of income, Southern slavery became more united. Three of many reasons as to why slavery increased were the new invention of the cotton gin, the Industrial Revolution, and the opening of new land in the west. America would have not met their quotas and made such a high profit. This is how cotton directly and indirectly increased