How Did Cotton Trade Affect The Age Of Exploration

The Age of Exploration, that started in the 15th century and lasted until the 17th century, brought lots of trade and technology to the New World and the Old World. More specifically, the Columbian exchange brought rare resources across the Atlantic, like tobacco, cotton, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes and livestock and sugar. Cotton was one of the most important resources both to the Americans and the Europeans. Cotton grows in climates that are warm and have long sunny periods so it was mainly grown in Asian countries like Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Turkey. But since the Ottomans (modern day Turkey and had borders with the other countries with cotton) did not want to trade with the Europeans, the people of Europe wanted there own cotton fields
The consumers of cotton were the people of Western Europe and the North of America. The North was arguably the biggest consumer of cotton. They bought tons of cotton from the South because they had best mass production in the world. In 1860 422.6 million pounds (weight) of cotton by the South providing 80 percent of England’s demand and two thirds of the world’s supply. The North took the cotton from the South and processed it into finished products that added value and then traded those products and got more money out of it from that trade. The consumers in Europe were the ones that paid the most for the cotton. Since Europe was a generally cold place, they needed cotton and wool to make thick clothes to be warm in the winter and make artwork like tapestries for the cultural centers of the world like Italy and France. Europe had to pay high prices for the cotton because they either got the cotton from America because Uzbekistan and Pakistan were remote areas, Turkey didn’t want to trade with Europe and Brazil focused their trade on sugar and tobacco rather than cotton, leaving America as the only viable source option for the Europeans. Cotton did not come cheap those days and although Europeans were warm in the winter, they had to spend lots of money to buy cotton to be able to make clothes not only in winter but all year round. The European population was
For example the cotton trade started the Civil War and led to the bloodiest war in American history, Gettysburg where 59,000 people died and a total of 215,000 people died in the Civil War. On top of that many slaves died and were ill treated in America as well as many racist killings that even continue until today. But this experience helped America in the long run. After the Civil War, America kept expanding west until they reached the western frontier and then expanded southwards. This became known as the Wild West era, which led to the American industrial revolution. People like Carnegie, Rockefeller, oil, locomotives, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and JP Morgan. These people formed America into the world super power that it is today. The cotton trade started the bloody, yet fast, technological and economical development that made it America. Although the negative aspects of the cotton trade were very devastating, they were essential to the growth of America as a country. Without these rough patches in the history of the United States, America would be less developed and less