Empire of Cotton Prompt

Hi Everyone,

We hope that you all had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving break.  "As you read this sentence, chances are you are wearing something woven from cotton.  And it is just as likely that you have never plucked a cotton boll from its stem, seen a wispy strand of raw cotton fiber, or heard the deafening noise of a spinning mule and a power loom.  Cotton is as familiar as it is unknown." (Empire of Cotton, p. xii)

With ubiquitous cotton in mind, please answer one of the following questions:

1.  How does Beckert distinguish capitalism from industrialization?

2.  Compare Beckert's description of cotton in forming modern capitalism to Cronon's description of European changes to the land of New England.  In what aspects are they similar or different?

3.  Europeans were surprised to find luxurious cotton fabrics in Mesoamerica. (p. 8) Given that cotton had been produced in Europe as early as the 10th century, what was its 16th century economic value?

4.  How did the rise of cotton as a global commodity change power relations? 

 

Written jointly by Leo A. and Forrest B.