Cotton Powerpoint

7/28/2019 Cotton Powerpoint

1/13

U n i te d s ta te s t o E g yp t a n d I n d ia

Cotton Sales and Production in theera of the American civil war


2/13

Cotton Sales and Production in the Era of the American Civil WarUnited States South to India and Egypt

Prior to the American Civil War, which began in 1861, the United States was thenumber one leading cotton producer for Great Britain. In fact, the United Statesaccounted for 77% of the 800 million pounds of cotton consumed in Britain. Most ofthe cotton was being exported from the Southern part of America. Generallyspeaking, it was mostly being picked by African American slaves. When the civil warbegan production and exports of cotton slowed down dramatically. Originally, theconfederates from the south banned all exports in hope to force British diplomaticrecognition. Soon after they realized that this strategy was not helping. When they

tried to remove it, the Union established a blockade that allowed for no exports fromthe south. Britain was now receiving no cotton from America. They knew that theyhad to take action fast in finding a new source. Just by 1862, Americas cotton exportsdropped by 96%. Britain went in to Egypt and India at this point. Essentially, Britainhelped to completely renovate these countries so that they could become successfulin the cotton business. Britain was so affected by the civil war back in America. Oncethe countries were gaining success, Britain helped to advance the business even

more. Modernization came around and in a few years railroads were put up andflowing all throughout Egypt and India. Transportation times were divided. By the endof the Civil War, the United States were processing their own cotton in their owncountry. The country no longer needed to be dependent on Britain. This was OKhowever, because the rates of British intake of cotton from Egypt and India were veryhigh. During this time period there were tight links between capitalism, cotton and

slavery.


3/13

In this picture U.S slaves in southern states are found picking

cotton. They do not get paid for this physical labor. After theypicked the raw cotton it was transported to other Europeancountries around the world to be manufactured. The U.S wasone of the most important countries in the worldwide web ofcotton. In the late1850s, the US accounted for 60-92% of thecotton manufactured in Britain, France, German Zollverein,

and Russia.


4/13

In 1861, in the United States a civil war broke out. In theNorths efforts to defeat the South, they established theUnion blockade. The Union blockade blocked off allsouthern ports. This resulted in a dramatic drop in exportsof Cotton from the South to Europe, in particular to Britain.


5/13

In this political cartoon, the two characters on the right symbolize theUnited States fighting with itself. The middle man, who stands for Britain,looks displeased with the U.S and eventually turns to the Indian CottonDepot. Britain was not receiving nearly enough cotton from the U.S, whohad just a year before supplied 77% of their cotton. As world traderelations were collapsing, Britain had to act quickly to ensure that their

economy would not collapse due to the war in the U.S.


6/13

When Great Britain realized that they needed to seekelsewhere to get cotton, they chose India. India did nothave the necessary technology for manufacturing cotton,and also were not currently growing cotton. Because ofthis, the British invested large sums of money to put in theneeded factors to produce the right sum of cotton. This

included building factories, mills and also planting seedsand improving soils.


7/13

One large difference in the cotton picking in the United States to

the cotton picking in Egypt and India was the workers. In theUnited States most of the cotton was picked by unpaid slaves. Theslaves were treated poorly. In Egypt and India work was done bysharecroppers, and peasants. These workers did not get paid asignificant dollar value but they were at least making a profit.


8/13

The English Ladies Free Grown Cotton movement was establishedin the mid 1800s. The group boycotted using, wearing, or involvingthemselves with cotton that was picked by slaves. They did notwant to make it seem like they approved of the slavery. They usedonly cotton that was picked and manufactured by paid workers.


9/13

As Egypt and India were becoming more and more important andsuccessful in the cotton industry, Britain decided to help themadvance the business. Britain's economy was dependent on thecotton industry so they poured money into it to ensure its success.Britain helped to install railroads throughout the countries so thatcotton could be transported easier.


10/13

This image shows Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee agreeing toend the civil war. 1865, the Civil War came to an end and slaverywas finally abolished. As we know, slaves were so important tothe economy. Since they no longer them to support theiragricultural needs, the United States found themselves scramblingfor a solution to their crashed economic system.


11/13


12/13

This table shows the cotton exports from India from the 1850s to

the beginning of the 1900s. As India is producing this muchcotton, Great Britain is receiving a large percentage of it. By thelate 1850s, the U.S was only providing around 800 million poundsof cotton. The switch from the U.S to India ended up balancing outfor Britains overall cotton income.


13/13

Pictography

David McElroy. Moral priorities: If we free slaves, who will pick cotton in the fields?

Photograph.Accessed on 13 June 2013. http://www.davidmcelroy.org/Fast Play Strategic Civil War Blockade. Map. Accessed on 13 June 2013.http://www.juniorgeneral.org/civil%20war/anaconda/anaconda.html

Over the Shop. Political Cartoon. November 16, 1861. in Sven Beckert,Emancipation and Empire: Reconstructing the Worldwide Web of CottonProduction in the Age of the American Civil War.American Historical Review,2004.

William Aikan. Cotton Picking. Painting. Accessed on 10 June 2013.http://factsanddetails.com/media/2/20120529-Cotton Pickers oil painting on panel by William Aiken Walker jpg

Modified Cotton in India Photographing. Accessed on 12 June 2013.http://angelasancartier.net/cotton

Free-Grown Cotton. Photograph. Accessed on 12 June 2013.http://revealinghistories.org.uk/who-resisted-and-campaigned-for-abolition/articles/towards-change-free-grown-cotton.html

Let Us Have Peace. Painting. Accessed on 13 June 2013.http://nobility.org/2012/10/15/social-revolution-after-civil-war/

American Cotton Mills. Photograph. Accessed on 12 June 2013.http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000025/html/t25.ht ml

Cotton Exports from India: Average Annual Exports by Decade, in Million Pounds. Chart. in SvenBeckert, Emancipation and Empire: Reconstructing the Worldwide Web of Cotton

Production in the Age of the American Civil War.American Historical Review, 2004.

Documents

Cotton Powerpoint