Question:
Before the emergence of cotton as a primary crop in the south, the invention of the cotton gin, and territorial expansion southward and westward, slavery appeared to be on the decline. These factors, coupled with a rising demand for cotton by the British textile industry, revived the South s agricultural economy.
Although cotton could be grown with or without slavery, the expansion of cotton cultivation and slavery occurred together. When slavery was challenged on moral grounds, southerners chose to defend their peculiar institution, as in the words of John C. Calhoun a positive good.
Task:
This writing assignment will require you to analyze and discuss primary and secondary sources that relate to the institution of slavery in the United States.