Close

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CottonBe.html" title="Facts and informations about Cotton Belt">Cotton Belt</a>

Cotton Belt

Cotton Belt former agricultural region of the SE United States where cotton was the main cash crop throughout the 19th and much of the 20th cent. Located on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains and on the Piedmont upland, it extended through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, W Tennessee, E Arkansas, Louisiana, E Texas, and S Oklahoma, and also into small areas of SE Missouri, SW Kentucky, N Florida, and SE Virginia. Cotton is still grown in certain parts of the region but has ceased to be the dominant crop. The intensive production of corn, wheat, soybeans, peanuts, beans, and livestock has largely replaced cotton. Commercial timber production is also widespread on many former cotton plantations. Until the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, the Cotton Belt was confined to the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia; by the mid-1800s, it extended from S Virginia to E Texas. The belt's climatic conditions allowed cotton to thrive, but post-Civil War reforms, soil depletion, and the boll weevil (a type of beetle that eats cotton) combined to push cotton west. Today large quantities of cotton also are grown are irrigated land in the Southwest—W Texas, S New Mexico, S Arizona, and S California (see Black Belt ; Imperial Valley ). The dryness of those areas makes it easier to control insect pests. Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, and Arkansas are the leading producers of the old cotton belt; California ranks after Texas nationally.

Bibliography: See G. C. Fite, Cotton Fields No More: Southern Agriculture, 1865-1980 (1984); A. Burton, The Rise and Fall of King Cotton (1985).

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

	Early South Carolina stop pulls democrats to center.(Commentary) Magazine article from: Los Angeles Business Journal; 2/2/2004; ; 700+ words ; SOUTH Carolina Democrats are a plucky lot. It's hard...places are as reliably Republican as South Carolina. Even so, over the next week every...Mexico! And Delaware! ) But it's to South Carolina that the all-seeing eyes of pundits... Read more
	A decade of difference. (South Carolina, US) Magazine article from: State Legislatures; 11/1/1993; ; 700+ words ; Were the South Carolina educational reforms like money in the bank? South Carolina used to be one of the Thank God states. When...out, other poor performers could point to South Carolina with relief. At least we're not that near... Read more
	How South Carolina Passed a Lottery. Magazine article from: Campaigns & Elections; 8/1/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...experience worried pro-lottery forces in South Carolina, an even more conservative bastion...more Democratic-leaning state than South Carolina. A state with dog tracks and labor...to develop a strategy tailor-made to South Carolina's political reality. We first assessed... Read more
	Keeping South Carolina manufacturers competitive: Manufacturing Extension Partnership: the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership is aiding the state's smaller manufacturers by offering business and technology assessments, engineering expertise and lean manufacturing solutions.(ONE-ON-ONE WITH ED MAIER)(Interview)(Company overview) Magazine article from: Wood & Wood Products; 8/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; The South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership...small and mid-sized manufacturers in South Carolina solve problems with business and...colleges, research universities and the South Carolina Department of Commerce. According... Read more
	Remarks on strengthening Social Security in Columbia, South Carolina.(Week Ending Friday, April 22, 2005)(Transcript) Newspaper article from: Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents; 4/25/2005; 700+ words ; ...Majority Leader Leatherman, members of the South Carolina legislature. I appreciate my traveling...Representatives from the great State of South Carolina. I appreciate the justices of the South Carolina Supreme Court being here. I thank those... Read more
	South Carolina names Reginald I. Lloyd as U.S. attorney.(NATIONAL REPORT)(Brief article) Magazine article from: Jet; 3/20/2006; 224 words ; ...was named U.S. Attorney for South Carolina. Lloyd, 39, became the first...the permanent position in South Carolina since Reconstruction. In his...also serve as chairman of South Carolina's District Law Enforcement... Read more
	Jazz and blues musicians of South Carolina; interviews with Jabbo, Dizzy, Drink, and others.(Brief article)(Book review) Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News; 8/1/2008; 151 words ; 9781570037436 Jazz and blues musicians of South Carolina; interviews with Jabbo, Dizzy, Drink, and others. Franklin, Benjamin V. U. of South Carolina Press 2008 272 pages $24.95 Hardcover...emeritus of English at the University Of South Carolina. He is also a long-time historian of... Read more
	Plate full of hate?: South Carolina rally unleashes intolerance.(Editorial) Magazine article from: Church & State; 2/1/2009; 700+ words ; Americans United's legal action against South Carolina's Christian license plate has brought...Americans United on behalf of four South Carolina clergy and two groups representing...nonsense was implicitly endorsed by two of South Carolina's top elected officials. Attorney General... Read more
	State of Rebellion: Reconstruction in South Carolina.(Review) Magazine article from: The Historian; 1/1/1999; ; 508 words ; State of Rebellion: Reconstruction in South Carolina. By Richard Zuczek. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996. Pp. xi, 250. $29.95...chronological order an aspect of South Carolina's experiences during Reconstruction... Read more
	S'had to be there: as the fish return to the South Carolina waters that spawned them, they seem destined to fill Dean Jordan's gillnets.(At Sea) Magazine article from: National Fisherman; 7/1/2004; ; 700+ words ; ...shad were running fast and furious in South Carolina. But I could not visualize the logistics...Oyster Shell Recycling Program of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, if...setting up the boat. In this part of South Carolina, there are places like Jordan's home... Read more

For more facts and information, see all related premium articles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

	Cotton Industry Book article from: The Oxford Companion to United States History ...retarded the production of cotton. Planters along the southeastern tidewater belt grew small amounts of long...x201C;sea island” cotton, a variety with a longer fiber...large landowners. Adding to cotton growers' woes, the boll weevil...gradually invaded the entire cotton ... Read more
	Cotton Book article from: How Products Are Made ...climates in that it easily absorbs skin moisture. Most of the cotton cultivated in the United States is a short-staple cotton that grows in the American South. Cotton is planted annually by using the seeds found within the downy wool. The states that primarily cultivate cotton are located in the ... Read more
	Black Belt Dictionary entry from: Dictionary of American History ...Mobile situated the Black Belt to become a major cotton plantation region. From 1830...became the South's leading cotton region, a distinction it lost...infestations had forced many Black Belt farmers to convert to food crops. Even then, the Black Belt remained the principal cotton ... Read more
	Boll Weevil Dictionary entry from: Dictionary of American History ...that eats the buds and young bolls of cotton plants, resulting in damage that reduces...north and east through almost the entire Cotton Belt of the South, reaching the Atlantic coast...boll weevil triggered an examination of cotton planting, harvesting, and field-clearing...searched for and ... Read more
	Lower South Dictionary entry from: Dictionary of American History ...United States lying wholly within the cotton belt, including South Carolina, Georgia, and...South states, which relied more heavily on cotton and sugar as their main cash crops and...Haywood J. Pearce Jr. / c. p. See also Cotton Kingdom ; Secession ; Slavery ; South... Read more

See all related entries