Hakim's metaphor

We had some confusion today about "king Cotton" - who wasn't actually a person, but a cash crop in the south.

Hakim used the metaphor "King Cotton" by comparing this crop to the king to show how it ruled the south. It took everything over and I believe she talked about how it was made by the blood and sweat of many slaves... that is the truth.

a cash crop -A crop, such as tobacco, grown for direct sale rather than for livestock feed. Cotton replaced tobacco as the south's most prosperous crop.

It was because of cotton that slavery had a resurgence in the south during the early 19th century. In the south, that period of time is called the antebellum period (before the war (Civil war)). Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin making it quicker and easier to remove the seeds from the cotton plants which made the need for cotton picking to go faster to keep up.

http://www.ushistoryplace.com/newmaps/us10/intro.html - this link talks all about cotton and slavery.

http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_cotton.htm - this site is good too. Goes all into the different developments and slavery.

Continue to consider these themes as you work on your poetry projects which are due on May 2.