Question

1. Why did the demand for slaves increase during the cotton boom?

A. More slaves were needed to construct cloth factories.
B. More slaves were needed to plant and pick the cotton.
C. More slaves were needed to transport the cotton to market.
D. More slaves were needed to sell the cotton to cloth factories.

Answer 1

1: While it was true that the cotton gin reduced the labor of removing seeds, it did not reduce the need for slaves to grow and pick the cotton. In fact, the opposite occurred. Cotton growing became so profitable for the planters that it greatly increased their demand for both land and slave labor.