| Wild cotton has been grown, harvested, spun and | | | | Eventually, cotton seeds did make it to the Americas |
| woven into fabric since prehistoric times. This plant has | | | | where small crops of cotton flourished from Georgia |
| survived thousands of years living in the dense tropical | | | | to New Jersey. These crops were for household |
| regions of Africa, India, in the Americas and in Australia. | | | | consumption only. Where larger quantities of cotton |
| Archaeological evidence shows that one variety of | | | | were needed, British laws demanded that cotton be |
| cotton was cultivated by people of the Upper Nile | | | | imported directly from Great Britain. Throughout the |
| (now Sudan) around 12,000 years ago; another type of | | | | 16th and 17th centuries, India and China provided most |
| wild cotton was raised in Coastal Peru 10,000 years | | | | of the world's cotton supplies supplemented after that |
| ago; while yet another species grew and was woven | | | | (in the 1740s) by South American colonies in Surinam |
| into beautiful textiles at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus River | | | | (French) and Guyana (British and Dutch settlements). |
| Valley of West Pakistan (about 5,000 years ago). | | | | Demands and restrictions such as this lead to the |
| The oldest cotton fragments though were found in | | | | American Revolution ousting the British control over |
| Mexico where the cloth and fiber found is believed to | | | | America. |
| date back 5,000 years. The indigenous species of | | | | Once the American Revolution War ended, Americans |
| cotton found there was 'Gossypium hirsutum' which is | | | | once again took control over their domestic cotton |
| still one of the most readily planted species of cotton in | | | | growth and cotton product production. By the end of |
| the world today. In Peru, where traces of cotton plants | | | | the war, US production grew enough so that by 1784, |
| and cotton fabric were also found, a cotton species | | | | cotton was being imported in huge amounts to |
| called 'Gossypium barbadense' was once the | | | | Liverpool, England. Just prior to the American |
| economic strength of the coastal colonies as Norte | | | | Revolution, many of the government officials had fled |
| Chico, Nazca and Moche. In these colonies, cotton was | | | | to the Bahamas to the island of Exuma, where they |
| primarily grown upriver, harvested and turned into | | | | sought refuge for their families and themselves. Here |
| clothing, twine and fishing nets. These items were | | | | they developed plantations of cotton and with the |
| traded in exchange for other goods and services in | | | | warm climate, the cotton flourished. West African |
| the region making these colonies very independent, | | | | slaves were brought onto the island to work the fields |
| self-reliant and prosperous. | | | | however, by 1802, the Bahamian soil became so |
| Alexander the Great is credited for bringing cotton | | | | depleted of nutrients and so insect-infested that cotton |
| from India to Europe around 300 BC. Crusaders, in the | | | | could no longer be planted there. These same officials, |
| 11th - 13th centuries, returned from their crusades (in | | | | who once fled the United States to avoid the war, |
| India) with cotton fabric that was so beautiful and | | | | now had no choice but to return to America and when |
| delicate that those who saw it, wanted to buy more. | | | | they did, they brought with them cotton seeds and |
| Cotton however was rare and expensive making it | | | | their black African slaves. |
| only available to the wealthy class. Up to this point, | | | | By the 1960s American cotton growers had survived |
| people wore clothing made from sheep's wool or | | | | the American Revolution, the American Civil War, |
| linens made from the flax plant. | | | | slavery in America and the freedom of slaves; |
| During the medieval period, cotton became known as | | | | ruination of the topsoil by years of planting cotton as |
| the imported fabric but little was known about the plant | | | | their only crop; the boll weevil infestation; the |
| itself or the steps involved in the spinning of cotton | | | | Depression of the 1920s; a slump in the demand for |
| threads into fabric. India became a world-class | | | | cotton in the 1930s; industrialization and a greater focus |
| producer of cotton textiles that were highly sought | | | | on moving away from the land forcing workers into |
| after. Those who knew the art of growing cotton in | | | | factories and cities. By 1960, the cotton industry was |
| India, harvesting the crop, spinning the threads, weaving | | | | challenged by the competition of synthetic fabrics that |
| the cotton and finally dying the fabric, became masters | | | | were being manufactured at a cheaper and faster |
| at their craft and were in high demand. By the late 18th | | | | rate than cotton plantations could produce. In addition, |
| and 19th century, India's production gradually declined. | | | | synthetic fabrics were becoming extremely popular. |
| This decline was largely due to the East India | | | | By 1977, only about one third of all fibers used in the |
| Company's (the chief manufacturer of Indian textiles), | | | | textile industry came from cotton. By the end of the |
| decentralization from India moving the plant's location to | | | | 1970s cotton once more became popular in part |
| England. By shifting the manufacture of cotton to | | | | because people wanted a softer fabric and in part |
| England, with India supplying all the raw materials, British | | | | because by blending cotton with synthetic fabrics, the |
| people were kept employed and secondly, England | | | | overall price became very affordable. Not surprisingly, |
| stood to reap higher profits from the export of the | | | | by 1990 about 50 percent of all textiles in the industry |
| finished product. | | | | were made from cotton. |
| When Christopher Columbus landed in America in 1492, | | | | Today more than ever, cotton is the fabric of choice. |
| one of the many gifts he received after landing, | | | | The U.S. textile industry consumes approximately 7.7 |
| included 'balls of cotton thread,' from the Arawaks - | | | | million bales of cotton a year with 47 percent of it |
| the inhabitants of the island of San Salvador. Not only | | | | being converted to the apparel industry, one-third going |
| was wild cotton growing in San Salvador, it was also | | | | into home fashions and furnishings and the remainder |
| growing in Florida even though, at the time, it was not | | | | going directly to industrial products. |
| seen as a viable productive product. Later, several | | | | As the younger generation moves into the next |
| attempts were made to bring seed cotton to the | | | | decade, a new interest in cotton is surfacing. Once |
| American colonies however, these attempts failed as | | | | more, cotton is their first choice when it comes to |
| tobacco was the chosen crop and the higher income | | | | clothing, home décor and all the cotton |
| earner. Even in 1702 - 1708, when the tobacco | | | | by-products that we use daily. This movement is not |
| economy was facing a depression, plantation owners | | | | just happening in America, it is happening globally as |
| were encouraged to switch from tobacco to cotton | | | | well. The same cotton that was found growing in |
| however few colonists took this advice. They | | | | warm climate regions of the world has survived the |
| reasoned that cotton crops were too labor intensive | | | | test of wars, culture, fashions and trends. By all |
| and therefore would be too expensive to operate. | | | | accounts, the demand for cotton and cotton |
| Instead, cotton was grown in Barbados (1627 - 1644) | | | | by-products is still on an upward swing and according |
| and remained there until sugar cane was introduced in | | | | to this plant's survival statistics, upward is the only way |
| the 1630s. | | | | it can go. |