Grade 8 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 10, Lesson 1

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
A More Perfect Union

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 10, Lesson 1: The Cotton Kingdom (pp. 284-289)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Interconnectedness The South built its economy on cotton production, which required lots of labor, and therefore revived slavery on cotton plantations.

Review how the invention of the cotton gin made cotton production more profitable and widespread in the South. Contrast the agricultural economy of the South with the more industrial economy of the North, connecting the South's cotton production with the Northeastern cotton mills.

Help students to understand how labor-intensive cotton growing increased the demand for workers, which increased the demand for slaves. Review a slave's day, from sunrise to long after sundown, and discuss why Southerners so strongly defended slavery.

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Have students create a cause-and-effect chain, starting with the invention of the cotton gin. Encourage students to include as many elements in their chain as possible. Remind them that industrialization in the North, especially textile mills, should play a role in their charts.
Organize students into working groups. Assign each group to come up with either: reasons for the South to develop a more varied economy, or reasons why it should rely mostly on cotton. Have a spokesperson for each group present the group's arguments and discuss.

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