Cotton and Race in the Making of America: The Human Costs of Economic Power Paperback – December 16, 2011

It is often assumed that once the slaves were emancipated abolitionists and other anti-slavery forces would accord them equal rights and integrate them into white society. As Dattel documents, however, many abolitionists and other anti-slavery people in the north and in the western territories wanted to keep African-Americans far away from their own soil, having them remain in the south, or shipping them off to a far away colony, which few of the freed slaves wanted. In a word, they were racist. (Equal rights, voting in particular, were obtained only briefly during Reconstruction in the South and ended with the withdrawal of Union (northern) protection after the 1876 Hayes-Tilden election. During Reconstruction the Republican Party hoped, hypocritically, that keeping the freedmen in the south, voting en bloc, would enhance its political power nationally.)Cotton, the mainstay of southern power before the Civil War, could most profitably be marketed by the slave system. I do not think Dattel makes abundantly clear that it was not slavery per se that makes this the case but that once the slave trade was in place (and continued illegally after 1809) the cheapest supply of labor was slaves. The backbreaking nature of the work failed to attract others voluntarily especially when there was land out west to be settled. (The migration from the old to the new south, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, entailed extension of the slave system as the principal crop in these new southern lands was cotton.)After the Civil War, if the freedmen were welcomed up north—which they were not—there would not have been cheap labor to plant and harvest cotton, which remained the principal source of revenue in the south, albeit precariously as the yield varied with the vicissitudes of weather, insects and prices on the English and New York markets. (The north also benefited from cotton as bankers provided credit to southern planters and manufacturers sold their goods to southern markets when the cotton crop was good.) Retained primarily as sharecroppers and tenant farmers—the distinction between the two is not made clear by Dattel—the freedmen enabled plantation owners to plant and market cotton, although smaller planters were less likely to survive.It was only during and after World War I when labor was in short supply in the north that the migration of African-Americans from the south accelerated. And in the 1930s new technology for cotton harvesting reduced the demand for intensive labor.Dattel provides a different perspective on the relation between north and south before and after the Civil War than most popular books. It is thoroughly researched and confronts the reader with new ideas

Expertly demonstrates the economic realities that have defined black life in America -- indirectly shining a light on my own family history: my great-great's were slaves on cotton picking plantations in TN & MS; my great's grew up in Reconstruction, but were still confined to the cotton picking industry; my grand parents' lives improved a hair as they moved to the city in the latter part of their lives to work as domestics due largely to the advent of the mechanized cotton picker -- leading to my parents who would be the first generation of my family to have limited choices (factory work) beyond the cotton field... the story of cotton is our story, but its also America's story. The author hints at how cotton laid the foundation for other industries to evolve, but focuses more on how it defined and confined black labor before and after the Civil War. Nice piece of scholarship... very nice

This was required reading for a college class. This provides the history of cotton in America and around the world. It discusses the rise of slave labor and the South's economic dependence on both. It ain't pretty, but it's the truth.

Author Gene Dattel takes the tragedy of slavery and economics of cotton production and weaves an engrossing story of enormous importance even today. He examines the origins of the humble cotton plant and its horrific intertwining with slavery; its astounding importance in international trade and the true economic origins of the Civil War. He places blame fairly and all round, no section of country was blameless here, in fact the North made enormous profits on the production of cotton and the transportation and sale of slaves.The writer's style is interesting and very comprehensible, I am awed by his ability to give a tragic human face to such dry economic data. You will never look at a cotton item the same way again I promise you.

Being a proud fifth-generation Southerner, I thought that I fully understood why the Civil War was fought. Most of my understanding was based upon the influence of society and culture within which I grew up. Although none of my family were flag flying Confederates, there was very much pride in being a Southerner and having ancestors who fought for the Confederacy.After reading this book, I honestly believe that I better understand why the Southerners did what they did. Within my lifetime I have been told over and over that the war was fought over the issue of slavery. As this book shows, slavery was at the root of the war. The primary issue of the war, however, was pure economics.I had always accepted blame for the war as a Southerner. I felt that the Northern influence of slavery was insignificant or nonexistent. I was wrong. Just as the masses of Southerners were not the cause of the war, nor were the masses of the Northerners the cause of the war. Both North and South, it seems from this book, a relatively small number from the "United States" had the production of cotton paramount in their minds and their lives. It was all about MONEY. No cotton, no money. No money, no cotton. No slaves, no cotton. No slaves, no money. I really believe that it is that simple and this book led me to that conclusion.I highly recommend this book to any citizen of the United States of America. I believe that having read this book, we can better understand our history. Maybe we can even prevent repeating bad history.My thanks to the author in this extremely fine work. Although this was not an "easy" book to read, it should be read from cover to cover.

Tough read but interesting to note that racism seemed to permeate early American society at all levels and was more about economics than idealism.

Very informative read and unique perspective.