The Road to Alabama and further West

Where new settlers went; the roads they took to get there

During the latter half of the seventeenth century, England was developing the spinning and weaving machinery which played a large part in bringing about the Industrial Revolution.

The Cotton Gin

The increased demand for raw cotton which resulted from this development was answered in 1793 by Whitney's invention of the cotton gin. Until this time, it was necessary to separate the lint from the seed by hand or by means of a pair of simple rollers. The black seeded sea island, or long staple, cotton was the only variety amenable to such processes, for its long fiber did not cling closely to the seed and could be removed easily. The short staple of the green-seeded variety clung so closely to the seed that it could not be removed profitably by these simple processes in use.

Long staple cotton could be raised only in the tidewater regions. The coast and sea islands of Georgia and South Carolina produced practically all the American output.

The short-staple cotton, on the other hand, could be raised in the uplands, and when the invention of the cotton gin rendered the culture of this variety profitable, the Georgia and South Carolina piedmont supplanted the tidewater as the principal cotton-producing area. This region had been settled by men largely from Virginia and Pennsylvania.

The culture of tobacco had pretty much worn out the land, so when upland cotton was introduced it quickly came to predominate. Towns founded for the warehousing and inspection of tobacco were abandoned because their facilities were no longer necessary. Such a town was Petersburg, at the confluence of the Broad with the Savannah Rivers, the removal of whose inhabitants went to Madison County Alabama.

By William Barker, Matthew Carey - From Georgia, from the latest authorities" by William Barker & Matthew Carey, 1795. Image obtained from the Library of Congress [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72152291

That the spread of the culture of cotton into the Southwest was inevitable, is indicated by its early introduction into Mississippi Territory. For a time, this natural movement was interrupted by the War of 1812. England had been cut off from her source of supply during this war and the price of the staple went to an abnormal level, while in America, the price fell sharply. When peace was made and normal trade relations were resumed with the lifting of the blockade of our coast, England again obtained her supply of American cotton and the price in this country rose immediately. The average price of cotton for 1815 was almost thirty cents a pound!

During the War of 1812, the Southern States pushed the Creek Indian tribes further westward, with the major conflict ending in Alabama. Now, Georgians, who had once entered the territory with written permission from the Governor of Georgia, began trickling towards the abandoned villages. Before the Creek cession of lands, travelers into the Indian Territory (Alabama) had to obtain a permit from the Governor of Georgia.

Just as the wagon trail was Pennsylvania-Virginia-Kentucky-Ohio-Indina, the raw trail into Mississippi was Georgia-Alabama-Mississippi-Louisiana. We have to remember that the settlers were navigating the region of the Mississippi River which was widely Indian territory.

The need for new lands to raise cotton crops drove immigrants through the old Indian territory. The result was that over a hundred thousand acres were disposed of by the government. In 1815, the sale of newly surveyed land was opened at St. Stephens, but no sales were made in the new Creek cession until 1817 when three-quarters of a million dollars worth of these lands were sold!

The old Georgia-South Carolina piedmont region had two distinct disadvantages from the point of view of the cotton planter. Its soil was not considered so fertile as that of the Alabama river bottoms and prairies; and it lacked transportation facilities, being cut off from the tidewater by the broad pine barrens, and being without navigable rivers.

The tidewater had its staple crops of tobacco, rice, and sea-island cotton, which were not disturbed by the newly developing cotton crop in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Note: The space for our “grandfather subscription” (lowest possible rate) is almost full. The offer expires on Friday, March 17th.