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A review by cancermoononhigh
Empire of Cotton: A Global History by Sven Beckert
3.0
This is a very detailed book - incredibly well written and packed full with information
Cotton is appeared to be this wonderful substance that humans can't live without. Unfortunately the history of cotton is anything but wonderful. Cotton was the accelerator for human productivity and capitalism. Cotton also helped the raise of other industries such as the railroad industry and the iron industry. Some could say the industrial revolution was started because of the need for Cotton.
The United States began as a huge contributor to the Cotton industry. 68% of cotton entering the United Kingdom came from the states, but it was on the back of slave labor. Slavery helped the cotton industry grow large and fast. What helped America grow so cotton so fast was that the planters had an unlimited supply of land, labor and capital. The civil war of course changed all of that. The crisis of the Civil War sent Europeans in desperate need of another source of cotton. India and Egyptian cotton got their foot in the door during that time. After the Civil War a majority of white farmers in Georgia took up the cotton industry.
Unlike the United States, other areas of the world did not use slave labor. Instead the rest of the world used the powerful new system of wage labor. The cotton manufacturing world under this wage labor became the most female dominated manufacturing industry to emerge in the 18th and 19th century. Women dominated the industry in the United States, Europe and eventually Japan. Interestingly, in Mexico and Egypt males dominated the workforce. Partly because women's labor was cheaper - they were paid 40-50% cheaper than their male counterparts. Workers' struggles lead to better wages and shorter hours.
After World War I Europe's biggest exporters for cotton was China, India, and Asian countries such as Singapore, because of lower wages and less restrictions on the Cotton industries in those countries. By 1963 Europe's dominance over the cotton industry came to an end. There are only 25 thousand cotton farmers in the United States. China supplies the U.S. with 40% of their cotton, followed by Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico, India and so on.
Cotton is appeared to be this wonderful substance that humans can't live without. Unfortunately the history of cotton is anything but wonderful. Cotton was the accelerator for human productivity and capitalism. Cotton also helped the raise of other industries such as the railroad industry and the iron industry. Some could say the industrial revolution was started because of the need for Cotton.
The United States began as a huge contributor to the Cotton industry. 68% of cotton entering the United Kingdom came from the states, but it was on the back of slave labor. Slavery helped the cotton industry grow large and fast. What helped America grow so cotton so fast was that the planters had an unlimited supply of land, labor and capital. The civil war of course changed all of that. The crisis of the Civil War sent Europeans in desperate need of another source of cotton. India and Egyptian cotton got their foot in the door during that time. After the Civil War a majority of white farmers in Georgia took up the cotton industry.
Unlike the United States, other areas of the world did not use slave labor. Instead the rest of the world used the powerful new system of wage labor. The cotton manufacturing world under this wage labor became the most female dominated manufacturing industry to emerge in the 18th and 19th century. Women dominated the industry in the United States, Europe and eventually Japan. Interestingly, in Mexico and Egypt males dominated the workforce. Partly because women's labor was cheaper - they were paid 40-50% cheaper than their male counterparts. Workers' struggles lead to better wages and shorter hours.
After World War I Europe's biggest exporters for cotton was China, India, and Asian countries such as Singapore, because of lower wages and less restrictions on the Cotton industries in those countries. By 1963 Europe's dominance over the cotton industry came to an end. There are only 25 thousand cotton farmers in the United States. China supplies the U.S. with 40% of their cotton, followed by Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico, India and so on.