Platt 1

Brandon Platt

Dr. KT Magnusson

ECON 1740

20-Apr-17

ePortfolio Assignment: Cotton

The American Economy has grown exponentially over the years. I have found this class

to be especially interesting as we discussed from pre-America to today and seeing all the changes

the economy has gone through. It is amazing to see and to understand all that went on throughout

the history of the United States of America. There are a couple of factors that play major roles in

the American economy. One I will be discussing today is cotton.

Cotton was and still is one of the most precious commodities around. While watching

Modern Marvels: Cotton, produced by the History Channel, the narrator discusses the uses of

cotton today and states Cotton is used in almost anything and everything, from clothes, to

developing film, to getting oil from the cottonseed to fry chips with. It truly is an essential

commodity. I feel that we can take this for granted sometimes when we dont truly understand its

significance

The video also states cotton as a necessity of life. I would have to agree with that

statement. The history of cotton goes back in history to India. The people of India were arguably

one of the first to understand the uses cotton could have. When raided by Alexander the Great,

India was found to be using cotton as the predominant fabric. The armies of Alexander the Great

used cotton to pad their saddles. As cotton made its way into Europe, many people were

confused on the source of cotton. This was not helped when John Mandeville gave false

impressions in which he said the sheep would eat the grass and fall over and the dew left over
 Platt 2

would take the cotton from the sheep. Surprisingly, this false impression stayed around for quite

some time.

As we move to other parts of the world we find that cotton was a prized commodity with

Arabian traders. These Arabian traders would trade this new-found source of clothing to Europe,

where wool and linen were used mostly for clothing. The upper-class women in Europe wanted

more of this new fabric that was light and colorful. Soon cotton was all the craze in Europe and

became so popular among the people, it started causing unnecessary contentions among people.

These tensions caused the governments to forbid cotton and those who were found wearing it

could punished by death. This was a serious crime back in the day.

The most important factor in all of economy, supply vs. demand, caught up with cotton.

Soon the demand of cotton far outweighed the supply. This led to envy from England ruler King

George the II. We look forward to the 18th century when England overtook India. It is a simple

solution why this happened. Along with other factors, one of the major ones was Indias cotton

supply. They had a lot of cotton fields that England felt they could capitalize on. Not only would

England not have to pay for these resources, but they would own it and could charge others a lot

of money to have access to these natural resources. In the long run, we see that England became

very greedy with it and these Indian cotton fields stayed in Englands hands until the mid-20th

century or so.

Englands textile mills and Americans cotton gin ultimately jumpstarted an industrial

revolution, one that has never been seen in history up to this point. This revolution was massive,

it allowed for so many more things to be thought of and built. The revolution changed the way

people think and the way people view natural resources. It even changed the way many people

viewed England and The United States of America. Suddenly it was as if we had a lot more
 Platt 3

power over the world, because we kind of did. When one country has the resources that

everyone else in the world is looking for, the power belongs to the owner of these resources, in

our case England and The United States of America. This economic revolution would eventually

cause wars to break out.

While time moves on, more innovations come about from the technological standpoint.

In America, there was the invention of the cotton gin. Eli Whitney was the inventor of this new

age machine. The Cotton Gin made it possible for more mass-produced cotton to be

manufactured from the field. This machine would strip the cotton from the plant using the blade

found within. The cotton would be grabbed by the blades taken to a slot where the cotton would

separate from the seed. This was an important process to make sure the cotton was as pure and

refined as possible to create the highest quality. Amazingly enough, the Cotton Gin reduced the

time it took to get seeds out of a bale cotton by over 18 months. However, this took so long, it

really did not matter how much cotton could be grown, it only mattered how quickly you could

get the seeds separated from the cotton, thus making cotton unprofitable in early America.

The Cotton Gin caused a huge demand for more slaves out in the fields to be picking

cotton. Since the Cotton Gin increased the production of cotton, they needed more slaves

working in the fields to supply the cotton for the Cotton Gin. The increase in the need of slaves

caused some tensions between the African people and their owners. More plantation owners

expanded their operation to farther West lands where the soil was primed and ready to grow

cotton. With all this cotton being produced, it must have a place to go to be manufactured into

materials that we can use it.

In England, they were using cotton to make the textile industry boom. The spinning jenny

was one invention that came out of this industrial revolution. The spinning jenny spun the
 Platt 4

strands of cotton into strings that could be woven into various things to create clothes, or

whatever was needed. These crude spinning jennies were modified later to be more automated

and later inserted into some of the largest factories to produce, mass-produce, cotton and the

products that come from cotton. Another amazing innovation that came from the industrial

revolution was the power loom which wove the strands of cotton, yarn, into fabric to be used in

other products. The power loom wove these strands at a speed no one had ever seen before and

increased production of these new-found fabrics. These cotton textiles were the backbone of the

Industrial Revolution. Just think, without these innovations to mass-produce cotton, where

would we be today? Look around, and see that almost everything you wear has cotton in it, or

has been effected by cotton in some way.

Amazingly enough this cotton economy combines two nations who used to be bitter

rivals. America and England, they fought in the Revolutionary War to become their own country,

now they are working together. The cotton is picked by slaves here in America and then sent to

Europe to be manufactured at the textiles. Amazingly enough the production of cotton is very

controversial. The cotton in America is picked by slaves and then sent to Europe to be

manufactured in factories where children were required to work. Like slaves, children were used

for cheap/free labor. There were not any regulations to state child labor laws or slave labor laws.

These cheap ways of labor are a major contributing factor to why cotton was so cheap and

economical. An interesting turn of events, when the first factory is built in America, there are not

children nor slaves working in these factories, but women who are cared for and are treated

somewhat equal to the owners of the factory. The labor practices in the northern part of the

nation are much different than that of the South.

Soon after these new textile factories settled in America, even more innovations came
 Platt 5

along the front of weaving new patterns for the power looms were switched out to create more

complex weaves in the cotton. These new weaves increased the value of the product

exponentially because now there was more diversity in the product. Not only were new patterns

introduced, but also new and faster equipment made its way off the line. This new equipment

made the weaving go by much faster thus creating more output in less time.

It is obvious to see why cotton was such a major commodity for the nation of America.

There has been so much development because of this, not only the cotton becoming a major

product in every household, but also the fact that ultimately it ended slavery. There would not be

slavery if there were no cotton, but there was cotton and there was slavery. It was an important

stepping stone for our nation to cross while competing and debating different ideals. It was

important for us to realize that everyone is equal, as it states in the United States Constitution. I

feel like we, as a nation, had to experience slavery to really see the value behind each person that

works hard in this great nation. Without the struggle, there would be no growth.

It is important for each nation to go through struggles to see who they really are. America

went through quite a few struggles, and we still are now. The economic struggles of the nation

have shown resilience as we have come out of tough situations. We have always learned from

our trials and mistakes. It is important to realize the role cotton had in making this nation what

we are today.

Works Cited

Channel, History. "Modern Marvels S12E03 Cotton." YouTube. YouTube, 11 Apr. 2017. Web. 21

Apr. 2017.