The Empire of Cotton

During the past fall semester, Dr. Sven Beckert came to Rhodes to speak about his book, The Empire of Cotton. He has spent a large amount of his life researching the history of cotton. The lecture was very interesting because it called my attention to the specific role that Memphis played in cotton production. My hometown, the city of Dallas, is surrounded by sky-high industrial buildings. Cotton fields did not exist outside of the history textbooks. On a weekend trip to Alabama my freshman year of college, I saw a cotton field for the first time. It was a truly moving experience to look out at the field and think about the events that occurred here years before. This field is a place where so many people were stripped of their freedom and tortured as slaves.  It made me feel extremely grateful for my life now and also, frustrated at the ignorance of people before me. I am at a stage in my life where I feel so much freedom. I am able to take four years and further my education before I completely devote myself to the workforce. That was not a possibility 150 years ago. A young white woman would not have had the opportunity to educate herself. She might have had a few responsibilities to take care of menial tasks but nothing like the responsibility a woman can have now.

Memphis was directly tied to both cotton production and the capitalism that stemmed from cotton. The Mississippi River played a part in the Industrial Revolution because it carried bales of cotton. Dr. Beckert spoke about the importance of slavery through capitalism. The economy was greatly assisted by the labor of the slaves and production of cotton. I found it very interesting that humankind has created the empire of cotton through human agency and human negotiation. White men negotiate which people they were going to own and strip of their agency. Slaveholders forced their “property” to work unbearable hours. There is a possibility that the economy could have been boosted without the institution of slavery. I felt that I differed from Dr. Beckert was in the fact that I do not think that slavery was necessary to cause the rise in the economy. In a better world, every person would be regarded as a human for their entire life. Inalienable human rights would be recognized in all people. People would be given the option to work in the fields instead of slaves being forced to exist in inhumane conditions. The end of achieving a profitable economy does not justify the means of dehumanization.

The Communities in Conversation lectures have been very enlightening. Well-educated people speak about their fields and as a Rhodes student, I have the opportunity to learn about many different topics.