In 1792, the year before the introduction of the cotton gin, the United States exported 138,328 pounds of raw cotton. Just two years later, cotton exports were 1.6 million pounds. By 1800, the United States exported 17.8 million pounds. By 1821, cotton alone comprised almost half of total exports. Cotton was the largest single commodity export of the United States throughout the nineteenth century and remained so as late as 1929, when it alone comprised 18 percent of total exports. The expansion of cotton production reinforced the South’s position as an export-oriented region and strengthened
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