ABSTRACT
If sugar and rice were the aristocrats of southern crops, tobacco and cotton were the commoners. Except for the border states and Virginia, cotton was produced extensively in all the slave states. Long-staple or sea-island cotton differed materially from upland green, short-staple cotton as to the areas in which it could be planted, the amount and costs of labor devoted to its production, and price. Unlike tobacco, rice, sugar cane, and sea-island cotton, which all required expert, and at times the most delicate, attention to assure high quality and abundant crops, the short-staple variety made no such demands. Picking cotton was most time consuming and took more labor than any other task. By 1860, the cotton economy had spread thinly over a vast area. Probably, the greatest concentration in landownership and cotton production was to be found in the delta country of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
