Cotton

Cotton and African Americans in the American South

This is a brief and quick analysis of cotton based on one of the best-known history books in its category. The book that this is based on is Empire of Cotton, written by Beckard, Sven. The book is an analysis of cotton based on the typical Black experience; it is also primarily an economic and social analysis. The book analyzes the economic history of cotton and the social impact on African Americans. I decided to write this to better inform the public about the history of Cotton and give a basic analysis of the Western world. It also briefly touches on American slavery and gives a better perspective on the history of the African American experience.

African Americans were brought in to work on cotton plantations from Africa by white entrepreneurs. In the United States, the Black experience was primarily based on slaves who were taken from their homes in Africa to work on cotton plantations. Cotton was the primary economic crop of the African American South. African Americans were taken from Black Africa and enslaved to work on the American cotton plantations.  African Americans were enslaved and brought in to work on cotton plantations because the work was extremely grueling in the hot Southern sun. It caused many African deaths. White entrepreneurs in the Western part of the Greater Earth tried to create large portions of land and tried to create large cotton plantations that were worked by Black slaves. Cotton plantations were created because the crop was “astonishingly profitable” in the 1780’s. Entrepreneurs made tons of money from slaves working Cotton plantations. Additional capital was used to create the Cotton Gin and to build Cotton mills.

Bibliography

Beckert, Sven. Empire of Cotton: A Global History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014.

 Cotton and African Americans in the American South