By the 1840s, India was no longer capable of supplying the vast quantities of cotton fibers needed by mechanized British factories, while shipping bulky, low-price cotton from India to Britain was time-consuming and expensive. This, coupled with the emergence of American cotton as a superior type (due to the longer, stronger fibers of the two domesticated native American species, Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense), encouraged British traders to purchase cotton from plantations in the United States and plantations in the Caribbean. By the mid-19th century, "King Cotton" had become the backbone of the southern American economy. In the United States, cultivating and harvesting cotton became the leading occupation of slaves. COUNT 5
QSN1 What was the difference that made American cotton preferred over Indian cotton? ANS1 longer, stronger fibers QSN2 In the 1840s, what country could no longer adequately supply the British cotton mills? ANS2 India QSN3 Besides buying from the American plantations, where else in the western hemisphere did Britain buy cotton? ANS3 Caribbean QSN4 By what time had cotton become prominent in the American economy of the south? ANS4 mid-19th century QSN5 What was cotton called in the 19th century? ANS5 King Cotton