The Bulletin. 7 



product for certain classes of goods; not only so, but the quality of 

 cotton from these countries was better than could be grown here and 

 fabrics made from it were preferred by the wealthier of our citizens. 



It is of interest to note that in 1789, Nathaniel Macon, then a Mem- 

 ber of Congress from this State, proposed a tariff on cotton to protect 

 the Southern States against the West Indies and Brazil. The bill was 

 defeated. 



Whitney's invention was patented in 1794 after which time he visited 

 the Legislatures of the different cotton-growing States and urged them 

 to buy the patent rights for use in their respective States. The South 

 Carolina Legislature purchased the right for that State, paying $50,000 

 for it. In 1804 the JSTorth Carolina Legislature bought the right for 

 this State, for which it paid $30,000. 



From this time on the development of cotton manufacture in this 

 State took rapid strides. In 1813 our first cotton mill was erected in 

 Lincoln County. The machinery Avas purchased in Providence, Rhode 

 Island, shipped by w^ater to Philadelphia, and hauled from there to 

 l^orth Carolina by wagon, a distance of over 500 miles. The Battle 

 cotton mill on Tar River was built in 1816 and the mill near Burlington 

 in 1837. N"ow there are over 330 cotton mills scattered over the entire 

 State. 



The introduction of the cotton mill into our midst revolutionized the 

 body politic and sent a thrill of energy through our industrial system 

 that has today put us in the forefront of the farming and manufactur- 

 ing States of the Union. 



In 1790 the price of cotton was 26 cents a pound; in 1799 it was 

 selling for 44 cents. As the price of cotton went up the price of slaves 

 rose ; the cotton patches grew into 1,000-acre fields, and the slave labor- 

 ers multiplied from tens into hundreds on a single farm. The planters 

 of a few acres in 1780 became the landlords of vast estates at the begin- 

 ning of the 19th century. Many of the plantations were small com- 

 munities with each individual looking to the landlord for advice and 

 support ; his vessels landed at his wdiarves, unloaded the goods he had 

 purchased in Europe, and took on board his cotton, corn, and tobacco 

 to be carried to London and other parts of the world. 



But as time went on and economic conditions changed, these vast 

 estates were gradually broken up and divided among the growing popu- 

 lation—sons and daughters of the landlords and others seeking invest- 

 ments in farm lands — till now there are few farms in the State having 

 1,000 acres, and fewer still with 500 acres under cultivation. 



In 1790 JSTorth Carolina produced less than 1,000,000 pounds of 

 cotton. Since then the production has gradually increased as shown in 

 the following table until now we are growing 1,000,000 bales per annum : 



COTTON PRODUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA, 



1801 1910. 



1801 8,000 bales 1860 145, 514 bales 



1811 14,000 1870 144,935 



1821 20,000 1894 479,441 



1826 20,000 1900 502,825 



1834 _ 19,000 1910 675.000 



1850 73,845 



