1. The South

2. Inventions The Cotton Gin
Soil and climate were ideal for growing cotton in the South.
The only thing holding back production was the ability to harvest it
Britain and the North needed more than the south could produce for textile mills
Removing seeds from the cotton was tedious and slow
Eli Whitney, a Connecticut teacher travelling in Georgia, decided to solve the problem
In only 10 days, he had created the cotton gin

3. Cotton Gin
The cotton was swept between two Rollers with thin wire teeth
The seeds were removed by the teeth and only the usable cotton was left
The cotton gin could do the work of 50 people cleaning cotton by hand
Plantation owners could now grow cotton for an incredible profit
Cotton production in 1792 was 6,000 bales
By 1850, that number had grown to 2 million bales

4. Slavery in the Cotton Kingdom
With the advent of the cotton gin, the Cotton Kingdom grew
Now spread from South Carolina across the South all the way to Texas
Also spreading was the use of slave labor
Slavery and Cotton created a vicious cycle
Cotton/ Cotton Gin created huge profits
Profits used to buy slaves to lower labor costs
Increased profits used to buy more land and more slaves

5. Agrarian Economy in the South
The South continued to have an agrarian economy
Cotton was prosperous in the far Southern states
In other Southern states, plantation owners grew rice, sugarcane, tobacco, and livestock among others
The use of slave labor was common among these other crops as well

6. Limited industry
Industry in the South only really existed in order to meet the needs of the farming community
They produced cotton gins, planters, plows and other iron farming tools
The use of slaves also greatly reduced the need of the South to invest in industry
Slaves had no money to buy factory goods
Not very many urban centers either
Fewer than 8% of Southerners lived in cities of more than 4,000 people

7. Economically Dependant
With little industry of their own, the South became very dependant on the North and Great Britain
Southern planters borrowed from Northern banks
Furniture and many tools were purchased from the North and Europe
The vast bulk of the goods produced in the South were sold to the North and Great Britain
Population and industry were not present in the South to create a viable market for Southern goods