- The History of the Cotton Industry:
When Christopher Columbus was exploring the Bahamas and Cuba, he found out that the natives were wearing clothes made of cotton. The natives had sleeveless shirts and mantles beautifully painted with different designs and colors. The French Catholic priest, Fr. Coeurdoux, uncovered how the natives processed its colors and designs. He brought this idea to his country and France introduced cotton throughout Britain and Europe.
The new invented spinning wheel speed up the production of cotton. The fabrics made of cotton were easier to design than wool and were cheaper than silk. Cotton became highly sought after in Europe due to its attractive designs. It became the most sought after fabric in France and Europe in general. The demand for it boosted the cotton textile industry. Cotton was easier to design with diversified and attractive colors.
It was much cheaper and more manageable for women. Cotton became the fashion of the time (Lyman 141-43). A new industry, a new crop has emerged to be the leading product. The
increasing demand For the cotton, especially in the British empire, opened doors for France and Britain to look for for outside sources..
The cotton production was just a small quantity in 1791. However, cotton became a new “king” crop to America. With the invention of the spinning jenny and weaving, the production of cotton became viable, proportionate to the foreign demand. After James Watts invented the steam power, it hastened the production of the cotton textile. By 1801, the production of cotton in America increased by 40%. This was mainly due to cheap land and the slave labor force. By 1830s, United States supplied majority of the world’s demand for cotton. This time, cotton has exceeded the value of all other crops combined, such as rice and tobacco. The cultivation of more lands for the cotton expansion led to the expansion of slavery in the United Stated by the 19th century. Large farm holders could buy more slaves and cultivated new lands. Slave states like Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi were primordial to the slavery system in the United States, making up 50% of the slave population (Kastor). The need to possess more slaves was in consonance to the increasing demand in the cotton industry.
2. The Slavery System: for Economic Gains
Slavery was a system that was passed on at birth to the next generation of the enslaved. Children of enslaved women inherited their slavery. The Cotton Industry marked changes in the country’s commerce, social, and political structure. The slave brought much wealth to its owners who considered them the most valuable asset. Owning slaves was a mark of social status. Skilled slaves can do artisanal works for their masters. Regardless of whether they work in a farm or
outside the farm, they bring so much wealth to the owner. Slaves are also sold to pay his master’s debts as chattel properties. Webster defines chattel as “something (such as a slave, piece of furniture, tool, etc.) that a person owns other than land or buildings”. The rich slave-owners became political leaders having gained much wealth. Thus, it was imperative that they maintain their control over their slaves. They used violence, such as whipping, to show their dominance. The slaves were like another beast of burden. The slave owners put full control on their most valuable property. A slave was not free to transfer to other farms or places without the consent of the owner. “Such was the case of Scott v Sanford (1857, Taney). Speaking for a widely divided court, Chief Justice Taney ruled that Dred Scott was not a citizen and had no standing in court; Scott’s residence in a free state and territory had not made him free since he returned to Missouri; Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in a territory (based on the 5th Amendment right of a person to be secure from seizure of property), thus voiding the Missouri Compromise of 1820” (Kastor). Rev. Alexander Campbell used the Bible to support slavery and he stated, “the right of holding slaves is clearly established in the Holy Scriptures, both by precept and example.”
Slavery was a. cruel system. It passed on at birth to the next generation of the enslaved. Children of enslaved women inherited their slavery ( Enslaved Women Essay). The children worked as house helpers or ladies in waiting to their mistresses. Many of the slave owners considered them as part of their family. They were also encouraged to attend church. Some masters taught them to read. In 1830, it was illegal to teach a slave to read. Their masters still whip them to death if the master finds their work unacceptable (Nigel 4).This dehumanizing practice was done because slaves were of lower rank in the human kingdom in the minds of the
slave holders. The political leaders were also slave-holders themselves and thus, perpetuated the system.
3.Women’s Rights
` Women did not have the same rights as their men. “For the same or equally valuable services she gets not half the pay that man does, simply because the modesty of her sex prevents her from resorting to all the arts and means of competition which men employ”.(Fitzhugh) Women had no political rights; without the power to bring suit, make contracts, own property, or vote. During the era of the "CULT- OF - DOMESTICITY," a woman was seen merely as a way of enhancing the social status of her husband.” (US History: Women’s rights). Women activists rallied for equality of rights of women to men in 1830’s and 40s. Angelina and Sarah Grimke became influential women fighting for women’s rights. They called all women to participate in the “freeing and educating of slaves.” In 1840, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a delegate to the World Anti Slavery Convention in London but was not well accepted. Thus, she organized in Seneca Falls, New York the first convention for women’s rights. New activities in the likes of Stanton, Mott, and Susan B. Anthony, they demanded improved law regarding child custody, divorce, and property rights. They contended, “Women deserved equal wages and career opportunities in law, medicine, education, and the ministry” (ushistory.org.) Most important of the cause was the right of Suffrage, the right to vote. Finally, the passage by Congress on June 4, 1919 and ratified on August 18, 1820, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote.
4. The Implications of Slavery:
Emancipation Declaration on January 01, 1863 gave new hope to the Afro-American slaves. It suddenly emancipated four million people. Soon, the slaves were free to roam around
and freely talked to the people who once whipped them. Were they indeed free? Historian Leon F. Litwack wrote, “what happens when freedom suddenly occur to four million people? What did that mean?” President Lincoln wrote in his famous Gettysburg address, “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” President Lincoln delivered this famous speech on November 19, 1863. The “negroes” were legally free now. Paradoxically, the White Americans still treated the Afro-Americans as second class citizens. The 13th Amendment of the US Constitution passed by Congress on 31 January 1865 and ratified on 6 December 1865 states in Section1. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2 Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” This 13th Amendment gave new meaning to the lives of Afro-American. It was the 15th Amendment of the US Constitution that gave every citizen “the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” In spite of the new freedom, the segregation of the colored race from the White people was still predominantly felt anywhere; in buses, in restaurants and even in schools. A century later, the late Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his speech on August 28, 1963 and showed that example “For Whites Only.He further stated, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will
not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Today we enjoy the freedom that our forefathers fought for. We now say, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is seen in the United States as symbolized by President Barak H. Obama.We have gone a long way in pursuit of this freedom. From the bondage of slavery to the women’s right declaration, let all men be free and free indeed.
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