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Cotton's American Journey (Grades 6-8)

Students investigate the impact of cotton on the history and culture of the United States. Students will discover the growth and processing requirements for cotton, recognize how the invention of the cotton gin affected slavery, explain how the plantation system was organized, and ultimately understand the role of cotton in the Civil War.

Grades
6 – 8
Estimated Time
3 hours
Updated
October 29, 2024
Field of cotton
Image: Pixabay

Background

Lesson Activities

Credits

Author

Debra Spielmaker, Rose Judd-Murray, Lynn Wallin, and Andrea Gardner | Utah Agriculture in the Classroom and National Center for Agricultural Literacy (NCAL)

Acknowledgements

Statistics and graphics from the National Cotton Council's Cotton Counts educational materials.

Paul Smith, Ex-Slave Federal Writer's Project full interview https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.043/?sp=325

Sources

  1. https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/documents/students/docs/FINAL%20C3%20Fact%20Sheet%209-13-13-1.pdf
  2. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/plantation-system/

Standards

National Content Area Standards

  • Social Studies – History
    • History Era 5 Standard 1A (Grades 6-8): The North and South differed and how politics and ideologies led to the Civil War.
      • Objective 5: Explain the causes of the Civil War and evaluate the importance of slavery as a principal cause of the conflict.
    • History Era 4 Standard 2D (Grades 6-8): The rapid growth of 'peculiar institution' after 1800 and the varied experiences of African Americans under slavery.
      • Objective 2: Explain how the cotton gin and the opening of new lands in the South and West led to the increased demand for slaves.
      • Objective 4 : Describe the plantation system and the roles of their owners, their families, hired white workers, and enslaved African Americans.