Cotton Panoramas 

The growth of cotton propelled the settlement of the Cotton South from the 1790s with the invention of the cotton gin to the 1890s when the boll weevil began to devastate cotton yields. Today cotton is still a major crop in the South and in California's irrigated Central Valley where the panoramas below were taken.


As you view the panoramas and accompanying images, identify the interlinked ecological, social, and economic factors that made cotton a dominant factor in the development of the South in the nineteenth century, those which continue to foster its success today, and the ecological consequences of cotton production on the land. Use the Cotton South quotations to assist you in your interpretation.

Cotton Field Panorama - Gustine, California

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Additional Photos

Cotton Plants

 

Harvested Cotton Panorama - Gustine, California

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Additional Photos

Additional photos--Gustine, California

Cotton Gin Panorama - Gustine, California

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Additional Photos

Cotton Gin House, Laurinburg, North Carolina

Restored Pre-Civil War Cotton Gin

Cotton Press for Baling Cotton

Credits: Photographs by Carolyn Merchant; panorama assembly and web page by Rob Weinberg.
Panoramas updated by Ravi Shivanna using PanoramaStudio 3 (July 2018)