Plantation crops and the slavery system significantly altered the U.S. economy, primarily between the year 1800 and 1860. In the early 1800s, landowners planted a variety of crops that were inclusive of tobacco, vegetables, cotton, and wheat, among other crop types. Among the profitable crops that were grown was cotton. To maximize their profits, cotton plantation owners sought the services of slaves, whose primary responsibility was to separate the cotton seeds manually (Bolton, 2014). For this reason, the plantation owners regarded slavery as one of the most important elements that would enable them to make huge profits, leading to the growth of the slavery system. In spite of the short-term reduction in prices, the Southerners depended heavily on the crop, consequently looking for more land to plant the crop inland (Young, 2015). With this provision, more slaves were needed to work in the cotton plantations.
Owing to the invention of the cotton gin, the demand for slaves increased to the year 1860, when cotton was considered one of the primary exports from the South (Bolton, 2014). In terms of the society, the slave system gave plantation owners the capital they needed for more riches. However, as the years progressed, political disputes regarding the expansion of slavery tore the Union apart, thereby bringing about abolitionist sentiments (Carter, 2015). The abolitionist sentiments were primarily evident in the North, during which several Northern politicians considered the actions by the southerners as intolerable. In this light, the secession ordinances for the South enabled the Southerners to leave the Union (Sinha, 2003). They considered this call as necessary for protecting the slavery system, which they feared would be interfered with by the Northerners.
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References
Bolton, S. C. (2014). Arkansas, 1800-1860: Remote and restless . Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press.
Carter, J. W. (2015). A Divided House in America. Booktango.
Sinha, M. (2003). The Counterrevolution of Slavery: Politics and Ideology in Antebellum South Carolina. University of North Carolina Press.
Young, R. F. (2015). Dissent: The history of an American idea . New York; London: New York University Press.
