1. The Growth of Cotton in South Carolina

2. Growing Cotton  In the United States, there are 17 cotton growing states and South Carolina is one of them.  All of these states form a region called the Cotton Belt.

3.  The cotton belt is a stretch of land where cotton is grown.

4.  Cotton can grow well in South Carolina because it needs at least 120 frost free days and plenty of sunshine, rain and heat.

5. “The Institution of Slavery”  The institution of slavery and the plantation system were originally established by the early English settlers who brought the institution with them from Barbados.  Slavery was also supported by the Elite class of South Carolina to help support their lifestyle, which includes their economic situation and social and political position.  Slave labor was used to grow rice, indigo, and cotton.

6.  After the Revolutionary War, Northern states passed laws that would gradually free their slaves; however, the plantation owning Elite in South Carolina did not support such laws.

7. The Cotton Gin  The institution of slavery became stronger as a result of the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793.  The cotton gin was a machine that was good at separating seeds from cotton-especially the type of cotton grown in the Upcountry.  Before the cotton gin, a slave could only clean about 6 pounds of cotton per week (about 1 pound per day).  With the cotton gin, a slave could clean 50 pounds per day.

9.  The new cotton gin increased slavery in South Carolina.  Once cotton was easier to clean, Upcountry planters started more cotton plantations.  Many slaves were moved to the Upcountry to work in the fields.  The number of slaves coming into our state also increased. It took many more slaves to grow and harvest all cotton.

10. “Cotton is King”  Almost overnight, cotton became an important cash crop.  Cash crops are crops that are grown to be sold.  Planters became very dependent on slave labor and were paid a lot of money for their crops.  The production of cotton caused South Carolina to become a wealthy state.  People said that cotton was king.