The Story of Cotton

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Cotton was first grown in Texas by Spanish missionaries. Cotton cultivation was begun by Anglo-American colonists in 1821. A sharp rise in production occurred in the late 1850s and early 1860s. The Civil War caused a decrease in production, but by 1869 the cotton crop was again increasing. The introduction of barbed wire in the 1870s and the building of railroads further stimulated the industry.

Beginning in 1872, thousands of immigrants from the Deep South and from Europe poured into the Blackland Prairie of Central Texas and began growing cotton. Some of the newcomers bought small farmsteads, others worked as tenant farmers or sharecroppers for landowners. Tenants lived in houses on the landowners’ property and supplied their own draft animals, tools, and seed. Sharecroppers furnished only their labor, while the landowner supplied everything else. After the cotton was sold and the accounts settled, the tenant or sharecropper often had little or no hard cash left over.

Increased cotton production led to technological improvements in cotton ginning-the process of separating cotton fibers from their seeds, cleaning the fibers, and baling the lint for shipment to market.

Technology and a world demand for cotton products, however, could not offset the devastation of the boll weevil. After 1892 boll weevil damage affected crops throughout Texas. A high demand for cotton during World War I stimulated production, but a drop in prices after the war led many tenants and sharecroppers to abandon farming altogether and move to the cities for better job opportunities.

Many factors caused a decline of cotton production in the state after the 1920s. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, many former tenants and sharecroppers returned to farmwork, but after the United States entered World War II in 1941, farmworkers moved again to the cities for work in war-related industries.

While cotton’s dominance began to wane in the mid-20th century due to various factors, it still played a significant role in the area’s historical development and is acknowledged as a pillar of the Texas economy.