HOW DID COTTON BECOME KING? THE ECONOMICS
OF
COTTON AND EVERYTHING ELSE LESSON 11
VISUAL 11.1
HOW DID COTTON BECOME KING?
1. In the early 1800s, the economy in the American South looked bleak.
• Normal trade partnerships with Britain, Spain and Portugal had
been weakened in the aftermath of the Revolution.
• Rice prices were declining.
• The market for tobacco was stagnant.
2. But before long the American South experienced a dramatic change.
During the first half of the nineteenth century, cotton production
boomed in the South, growing from less than 200,000 bales in 1800 to
more than 4,000,000 bales per year just before the Civil War.
3. What encouraged such rapid growth in the production of a single crop
throughout the American South?
FOCUS: UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS
IN
UNITED STATES HISTORY ©NATIONAL COUNCIL
ON
ECONOMIC EDUCATION, NEW YORK, NY
133
LESSON 11 HOW DID COTTON BECOME KING? THE ECONOMICS
OF
COTTON AND EVERYTHING ELSE
VISUAL 11.2
COTTON PRODUCTION, 1800-1860
1800
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
= 200, 000 bales of cotton
134
FOCUS: UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS
IN
UNITED STATES HISTORY ©NATIONAL COUNCIL
ON
ECONOMIC EDUCATION, NEW YORK, NY
HOW DID COTTON BECOME KING? THE ECONOMICS
OF
COTTON AND EVERYTHING ELSE LESSON 11
VISUAL 11.3
COTTON PRODUCTION
AND
PRICES
1820
120,000 bales of cotton sold at a market price of 18 cents
1850
2,100,000 bales of cotton sold at a market price of 13 cents
FOCUS: UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS
IN
UNITED STATES HISTORY ©NATIONAL COUNCIL
ON
ECONOMIC EDUCATION, NEW YORK, NY
135
LESSON 11 HOW DID COTTON BECOME KING? THE ECONOMICS
OF
COTTON AND EVERYTHING ELSE
VISUAL 11.4
COTTON PRODUCTION
AND
PRICES
SUPPLY1
(1820)
PRICE
P1
SUPPLY2
(1850)
P2
DEMAND
Q1
Q2
QUANTITY
SUPPLY
136
OF
FOCUS: UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS
COTTON INCREASES, 1820-1850
IN
UNITED STATES HISTORY ©NATIONAL COUNCIL
ON
ECONOMIC EDUCATION, NEW YORK, NY
HOW DID COTTON BECOME KING? THE ECONOMICS
OF
COTTON AND EVERYTHING ELSE LESSON 11
VISUAL 11.5
SUPPLY
AND
DEMAND
FOR
BEAVER PELTS, EARLY 1800S
SUPPLY1
PRICE
P1
DEMAND1
Q1
FOCUS: UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS
IN
QUANTITY
UNITED STATES HISTORY ©NATIONAL COUNCIL
ON
ECONOMIC EDUCATION, NEW YORK, NY
137
LESSON 11 HOW DID COTTON BECOME KING? THE ECONOMICS
OF
COTTON AND EVERYTHING ELSE
VISUAL 11.6
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
ANSWERS
FOR
BEAVER PELTS, EARLY 1800S
S2
PRICE
S1
P2
P1
P3
D1
D2
Q3
138
FOCUS: UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS
IN
Q2
Q1 QUANTITY
UNITED STATES HISTORY ©NATIONAL COUNCIL
ON
ECONOMIC EDUCATION, NEW YORK, NY