Cotton Domination
Suddenly with the invention of the gin, the cotton industry was able to overcome the only opposition that stood between the mediocrity in which the industry resided, and the supermassive one it became.
Suddenly with the invention of the gin, the cotton industry was able to overcome the only opposition that stood between the mediocrity in which the industry resided, and the supermassive one it became.
- When Alexander Hamilton promoted cotton as a crop in 1790, the US produced only .04% of the world’s cotton.
- After the invention of the gin, American cotton production doubled each decade and by 1860, that number had skyrocketed to more than two thirds of the world’s cotton production.
- Cotton became the United States top export and between 1820 and 1830, cotton accounted for upwards of 80% of all American exports.
- Cotton had officially become the cash crop that tobacco never had the potential to be.