Cotton Is King: Critical Thinking on the US History

Between 1860 and 1789, slave states formed a union that later transformed the south region into an economic land built on slave labor. The slaves in the south region decided to endure the traumas of the long term suffering, therefore, they formed their own culture and found hope in Christianity. On the other hand, an error occurred know as antebellum whereby planters from the southern region grew crops such as tobacco and rice, but cotton emerged as the major commercial crop. Crop experts such as Eli Whitney made a revolution in cotton production and invented devices such as the cotton gin that farmers used in separating seeds from the raw cotton. Therefore, all the labor-intensive process was easy and faster. Unlike other crops, it was easy to store and transport cotton thus making it advantageous for many factories dealing in cotton production. Additionally, the slaves worked in the cotton farms as hand-pickers. United states started growing cotton after the writing of the Federal Constitution and cotton ended up as the primary cash crop. Due to the slave labor, the American cotton became the best cash crop supply globally, and some politician claimed that the north residents could not threaten the south because cotton was like a king. The planters estimated the total number of cotton harvest according to the number of slaves in control. Consequently, many slaves were to work on a larger number of acres per day. Also, the slaves underwent a lot of pressure to meet the daily targets as some experienced forced labor from their masters who whipped those who picked less cotton. The slaves worked from sunrise to sunset without resting and food. However, some slave master believed that food increases the productivity of the slaves hence they gave them a lot of food to increase their energy.

Looking at the other side of the southern region, a larger population of free slave existed. In fact, the south had more free blacks than the north because the south had started to have staple crops such as wheat which did not require much labor from the slaves. Many of the freed slaves resided in the major cities, but unfortunately, they faced discrimination from the whites. Some parts of the southern region continued with practicing slave trade because the cotton farming enlarged. Therefore, the farmers needed the domestic slaves to work on their farms. The production of cotton increased as the cotton planters gained more wealth and power in politics. Similarly, the wealthy cotton farmers formed a ruling class that shaped both the domestic and foreign policy with the aim of expanding the cotton market in the southern kingdom. The federal government got influence from the planters of the south whereby it allowed the farmers to operate within the biggest capitalist society. However, the method of labor remained the same whereby slaves still worked on the cotton farms. Later on, democracy rose, and slaveholders started worrying about the majority power which was hostile to slavery. Some activists came up with theories that advocated against the slave trade and forced labor in the cotton plantations. The theories suggested that a freed human being is more willing to work faster and neatly without supervision. Therefore, for the cotton planters to have quality harvest and expand their crop production globally, they had to free the slaves, pay them the correct wages and stopped overworking them.