Teacher Edition
U.S. History
The Cost of Progress
Text Dependent Questions
Article #1: American
Indians on the Cotton Frontier
1. The economy of the American Indians was dependent on deer skin trade. Why did the sale of
deer skins to white settlers decline in the late 1700s and early 1800s? Support your answer
with evidence from the text.
Americans (white settlers) began purchasing cotton textiles instead of deer skins. “The
invention of the cotton gin caused the price of cotton textiles to decrease.” When cotton
became more affordable, Americans chose to buy it resulting in a decline in the sale of deer
skins.
2. The author writes, “The U.S. government took advantage of the dire economic conditions
that the American Indians were facing.” What does the word “dire” mean in that sentence?
The word “dire” is a synonym for terrible, dreadful, dismal….
Follow-up question for students: What caused their economic conditions to become dire?
Answer: The invention of the cotton gin (how so?) because it made cotton more affordable
so when Americans stopped buying deerskins, the tribes lost a significant portion of their
income.
3. Why did the decline of deer skin sales weaken the Choctaws, Chickasaws and Creeks?
Initially the decline of deer skin sales economically weakened the tribes. Their reduced
income left the Choctaw vulnerable (less money made them less powerful). The Choctaw,
Creeks and Chickasaws were forced to borrow money from the US government which gave
the US government greater power over the tribes (because the tribes owed them money).
Follow-up question for students: Were the tribes weakened in any other ways (besides
economically). Answer: Eventually the US government forced the tribes off their land which
also weakened them spiritually (see questions 4 & 5).
4. The author opens the piece with the following words… “little is known about the negative
economic and cultural changes that accompanied the expanding cotton industry, especially
those experienced by American Indians.” Identify the economic and cultural changes that
American Indians endured as a result of the cotton gin.
Economic: The tribes lost money due to the decline in deerskin sales. The cotton gin caused
the decline in sales because the invention resulted in cotton becoming more affordable for
American consumers.
Follow-up question for students: Did the tribes suffer any other economic losses (besides the
decline in deerskin sales)? Answer: The tribes also lost land eventually (which had economic
value).
Cultural: The tribes lost their ancestral land. This was land that the tribes had inhabited for
thousands of years. There were many sites on this land which would have been important to
the tribes’ culture such as burial grounds, holy sites and other places of sentimental value.,
Additionally, Native American culture is often closely tied to the physical geography of the
land they inhabit (i.e food comes from the land, clothing, shelter, etc…).
5. Article #1 ends with a quote from a Choctaw chief who says, “My spirit, too, is now
broken.” How did the cotton gin indirectly cause his spirit to break?
The chief’s spirit broke as an indirect result of the invention of the cotton gin. The cotton gin
caused the value of cotton to decrease, which caused Americans to buy fewer deerskins from
American Indians. The decline in deerskin sales weakened the tribes economically and
eventually led to the loss of their land. Americans wanted their land to plant more cotton
(because the value of the crop was increasing). The chief had a strong spiritual connection to
his land (i.e. ancestors buried there). Losing the land caused his spirit to break…and the loss
of land was indirectly caused by chain reaction of events resulting from the invention of the
cotton gin.
Or….paraphrase the speech from the Choctaw Chief
I am begging you, leave me and my injured people alone. Let us rest
We promise not to hurt you, just leave us alone. I really loved my homeland. I had a strong
connection to that land. But that land was taken away from us, so now we must try and make
a new life in the foreign place you are forcing us to live in. Losing my homeland is
devastating. I do not think I will ever recover from it.
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