King Cotton
"King Cotton" is a slogan which summarized the strategy used before the American Civil War by pro-secessionists in the southern states to claim the feasibility of secession and to prove there was no need to fear a war with the northern states. The theory held that control over cotton exports woul…
What was the term King Cotton used to describe?
King Cotton was a phrase coined in the years before the Civil War to refer to the economy of the American South. The southern economy was particularly dependent on cotton. And, as cotton was very much in demand, both in America and Europe, it created a special set of circumstances. Great profits could be made by growing cotton.
What does the phrase King Cotton mean?
“King Cotton” is a slogan that summarized the strategy used before the American Civil War (of 1861–1865) by secessionists in the southern states (the future Confederate States of America) to claim the feasibility of secession and to prove there was no need to fear a war with the northern states.
What did the phrase Cotton King mean?
King Cotton, phrase frequently used by Southern politicians and authors prior to the American Civil War, indicating the economic and political importance of cotton production. After the invention of the cotton gin (1793), cotton surpassed tobacco as the dominant cash crop in the agricultural economy of the South, soon comprising more than half the total U.S. exports.
What is the significance of King Cotton?
King Cotton
- Cotton is King. In the late eighteenth century, a recent Yale graduate named Eli Whitney had aspirations of practicing law.
- Southern Culture. By the mid nineteenth century, the south had developed into an aristocracy, with wealthy plantation owners at the top of the social ladder.
- Conditions of Slaves. ...
Why did Southerners often say that cotton is king?
The main cash crops that plantations grew in America were tobacco, cotton, and rice. "King Cotton" is a slogan used by Southerners before the Civil War. When Southerners used this slogan, they were saying that cotton was so important that they would have no problem winning the Civil War against the North.
Who was called King Cotton?
James Hammond, a southern plantation owner, and U.S. Senator extolled Southern power. In his speech to the United States Senate on March 4, 1858, he put words to a long-brewing Southern philosophy: “Cotton is King.” On March 4, 1858, Hammond told the Senate "Cotton is King."
What does the phrase King Cotton mean quizlet?
King Cotton. Term used by Southern authors and orators before the Civil War to indicate the economic dominance of the Southern cotton industry, and that the North needed the South's cotton.
What was the effect of King Cotton?
Eli Whitney's invention made the production of cotton more profitable, and increased the concentration of slaves in the cotton-producing Deep South. This phenomenal and sudden explosion of success of the cotton industry gave slavery a new lease on life.
What is the meaning of "cotton is king"?
Cotton is king: or, The culture of cotton, and its relation to Agriculture, Manufactures and Commerce; to the free colored people; and to those who hold that slavery is in itself sinful. Cincinnati.
How much was cotton worth in 1860?
By 1860, on the eve of the American Civil War, cotton accounted for almost 60% of American exports, representing a total value of nearly $200 million a year.
How many bales of cotton were produced in 1850?
European and New England purchases soared from 720,000 bales in 1830 to 2.85 million bales in 1850, to nearly 5 million in 1860. Cotton production renewed demand for slavery after the tobacco market had declined in the late 18th century. The more cotton was grown, the more slaves were needed to harvest the crops.
Why did the Cotton Diplomacy fail?
Mason and John Slidell, completely failed because the Confederacy could not deliver its cotton, and the British economy was robust enough to absorb a depression in textiles from 1862–64.
Why did the Confederates refuse to export cotton to Europe?
When war broke out, the Confederates refused to allow the export of cotton to Europe. The idea was that this cotton diplomacy would force Europe to intervene. However, European states did not intervene, and following Abraham Lincoln 's decision to impose a Union blockade, the South was unable to market its millions of bales of cotton. The production of cotton increased in other parts of the world, such as India and Egypt, to meet the demand, and new profits in cotton were among the motives of the Russian conquest of Central Asia. A British-owned newspaper, The Standard of Buenos Aires, in cooperation with the Manchester Cotton Supply Association succeeded in encouraging Argentinian farmers to greatly increase production of cotton in Argentina and export it to the United Kingdom.
What is Surdam's more complete model of the world market for cotton?
Surdam's more complete model of the world market for cotton, combined with additional data, shows that the reduction in the supply of American-grown cotton induced by the Civil War distorts previous estimates of the state of demand for cotton.
What did James Henry Hammond say about cotton?
Cotton's central place in the national economy and its international importance led Senator James Henry Hammond of South Carolina to make a famous boast in 1858: Without firing a gun, without drawing a sword, should they make war on us, we could bring the whole world to our feet ...
How to use "King Cotton" in a sentence?
How to use King Cotton in a sentence. I wish I was a young Carole King, working in the Brill Building. As played by Omundson, King Richard is effeminate, sincere, and ten times funnier than everyone else. The last film about Martin Luther King was made for television in 1977.
What was cotton considered in the South?
cotton and cotton-growing considered, in the pre-Civil War South, as a vital commodity, the major factor not only in the economy but also in politics.
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What does it mean when someone says "Cotton is King"?
What does the Saying “Cotton is King” Mean ? : It Denotes : Of All Fabrics, it is Only Cotton that most attracts Persons. From the point of view of wearing, Cotton is most Comfortable. It is easy and safer to wash. It is preferred by the Patients, Doctors, Nurses, and Heath Services Staff. Cotton is good as Children's Wearing. Cotton permits air to pass into the body just as the porous earthen pots do, and helps in keeping the temperature of the human body adaptable to the seasons, such as cool in the summer and warmed-up in the winter. The Richest Persons like to wear the Pure Cotton Clothes
Why is cotton called King Cotton?
One of the reasons that it was referred to as "King Cotton" was the culture in the South. If you lived down South, whether you owned a huge plantation or a smaller farm, cotton was the main crop that supported the South. Given, there were other ones, tobacco, rice, and such, but the main export continued to be cotton.
Why is cotton king?
Cotton is King was a phrase used by the South during the American Civil War. The south exported around 90 percent of Britain's textile industry shortly before the civil war, after the introduction of the cotton gin, and during the heaviest part of American slavery. Essentially the south thought that Britain would need that cotton so badly, they would be willing to defend the Confederates from the Union, thus defending slavery. At the time ~1860 the South's economy was almost completely dependent on Tobacco and Cotton, the latter more than the former. The phrase "King Cotton" was used to convin
Why is cotton used for wedding anniversary?
As I understand that is in part because the married couple continues to become closer to each other as their lives become more intertwined. It is also noted that cotton is soft and yet strong as the couple needs to give & take and be flexible for each other.
What does it mean when cotton is high?
That anxiety is the normal state of things. So “high cotton” is a fleeting moment of secure repose in the summertime. In Southern culture it’s sometimes a metaphor for the carefree innocence of childhood.
What is spun into a thread?
The fiber is spun into a thread or yarn and them woven into a cloth.
What does "to know" mean?
To get to know or understand something.
Overview
"King Cotton" is a slogan that summarized the strategy used before the American Civil War (of 1861–1865) by secessionists in the southern states (the future Confederate States of America) to claim the feasibility of secession and to prove there was no need to fear a war with the northern states. The theory held that control over cotton exports would make a proposed independent Confederacy e…
History
The American South is known for its long, hot summers, and rich soils in river valleys, making it an ideal location for growing cotton. The many southern seaports and riverside docks allowed shipping cotton to remote destinations. By 1860, Southern plantations supplied 75% of the world's cotton, with shipments from Houston, New Orleans, Charleston, Mobile, Savannah, and a few other ports.
British position
When war broke out, the Confederate people, acting spontaneously without government direction, held their cotton at home, watching prices soar and an economic crisis hit Britain and New England, causing a backlash with British public opinion. Even if Britain did intervene, it would mean war with the United States, as well as loss of the American market, loss of American grain supplies, risk to Canada, and much of the British merchant marine, all in the slim promise of getti…
Economics
When war broke out, the Confederates refused to allow the export of cotton to Europe. The idea was that this cotton diplomacy would force Europe to intervene. However, European states did not intervene, and following Abraham Lincoln's decision to impose a Union blockade, the South was unable to market its millions of bales of cotton. The production of cotton increased in other parts of the world, such as India and Egypt, to meet the demand, and new profits in cotton were amon…
See also
• Diplomacy of the American Civil War
• Cotton production in the United States
• Black Belt in the American South
• Origins of the American Civil War
Bibliography
• Blumenthal, Henry. "Confederate Diplomacy: Popular Notions and International Realities." Journal of Southern History 1966 32(2): 151-171. ISSN 0022-4642 in Jstor
• Hubbard, Charles M. The Burden of Confederate Diplomacy (1998)
• Jones, Howard, Union in Peril: The Crisis over British Intervention in the Civil War (1992) online edition
Further reading
• An American (1855). Cotton is king: or, The culture of cotton, and its relation to Agriculture, Manufactures and Commerce; to the free colored people; and to those who hold that slavery is in itself sinful. Cincinnati.
External links
• Cotton King Cartoon
• King Cotton