Porter Broyles answers “Can someone help me understand why cotton...”

SusanJ asked this question about Empire of Cotton: A Global History:

Can someone help me understand why cotton was such a big deal? I understand about supply/demand with respect to price - new technology and globalization and whatnot brought the price down, and allowed for a lot of production, but what makes the "demand" for cotton so great? Is it the fashion aspect? Certainly most folks I know have way more clothes than they'll ever wear, and keep buying more... But still...

Porter Broyles With the introduction of the Cotton Gin, cotton became the go-to fabric of the age.

It was relatively inexpensive, easy to produce, and versitile. In t…moreWith the introduction of the Cotton Gin, cotton became the go-to fabric of the age.

It was relatively inexpensive, easy to produce, and versitile. In the 1800s, it became one of the main commercial products of the day because you could use it to make virtually anything and everything made of cloth and do so cheaper and more comfortably.

Dresses, sails, bags for crops, pants, ropes, etc---all could be made from cotton. (less)

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