University of Washington
Geography 349 (Professor Harrington)
Response Paper 5


Questions from Rivoli, Chapters 2 and 3


  1. What were the key institutional differences among Britain, the US, India, and China, relevant to productivity increases in farming?
  2. What technologies allowed the US South to become the world's leading cotton producer?
  3. To what markets (domestically and international) did all of this cotton go?
  4. What are the special characteristics of cotton farming that made typical labor markets (individuals deciding to work at an offered wage) difficult to rely on?
  5. In what series of ways did Southern US farmers meet the labor requirements of cotton production from the mid-19th through the mid-20th centuries?


copyright James W. Harrington
revised 27 December 2013