During the British colonial period, slaves were used mainly in the Southern colonies, but there were also bought and used in the Northern colonies. Their main use was to grow and tend to the crops of indigo, rice, and tobacco. At this time, cotton was only a side crop, but in 1793, a man named Eli Whitney contributed to the growth and demand of cotton when he invented the cotton gin. With the growing British demand for cotton, according to the book Out of Many, grew the need of slaves, therefore 75000 slaves were imported during 1800- 1808. In the beginning of the 19th century the growth of the United States’ economy shaped the South as a slave society and gradually industrialized the North, while carried on the backs of the African American slaves.
Cotton was a major influence to the expansion of America. The growth of cotton was a profitable crop that began to spread from South Carolina and Georgia to Mississippi and Alabama. To grow cotton, labor was needed to pick the green seeds that were caught in it. Farmers would purchase many slaves to do this work. This idea of using slaves for the production of cotton became popular among farmers and gave them another reason to keep Africans in bondage. However, in 1793 a Yale graduate named Eli Whitney invented a machine that could separate the seeds and the cotton. This machine called the cotton gin produces fifty times more cotton than one slave. This caused the cotton market to skyrocket. Profits were now even better, and farmers were in search of more land. Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas were all approached by farmers for the growth of their cotton. The cotton gin greatly increased the supply of cotton; so much of it was exported.
At this time, England developed a new system to produce textile at faster rate, which was more productive and cheaper. The new industrial system in England that grew mainly in Manchester city dominated this production and the factory owners required...