This inquiry leads students through an economic investigation of the mid to late 1800s. By investigating the compelling question, “How Did Cotton Sow the Seeds of Panic?”, students identify the market forces of demand and supply at play in the boom and bust of the cotton industry. They learn how these forces impacted the treatment of enslaved persons in the United States during the lead up to The Panic of 1837. Students discover connections between technological innovations like the Cotton Gin, domestic slave trade, manufacturing of cotton in the United States and abroad and land speculation spurred on by President Andrew Jackson’s domestic policies. Students learn about the many shocks that lead to recession which can then be classified as a panic. The depth of this inquiry is in the reflection on what role reliance on enslaved people as labor played in the economic growth of the United States. This emphasizes that choices that we make as individuals and institutions can lead to the exploitation of a group or groups of individuals. This lens is vital to understanding that the choices that students make have far reaching opportunity costs.
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About the inquiry
Compelling Question
How Did Cotton Sow the Seeds of Panic?
Staging Question
Look and listen to selected sources from the 1619 Project and discuss the differences between a recession and a panic.
What market forces impacted the demand for cotton in the early 1800s?
Formative TasksStudents construct a demand and supply T-chart and add examples of demand side market forces to the chart.
SourcesSource A: Capitalism, Desmond, 2019
Source B: America's First Great Recession, Roberts, 2012
Source C: Cotton, cotton trade of the United States, 1884
Source D: Staunton Spectator, 1892
What market forces impacted the supply of cotton in the early 1800s?
Formative TasksStudents add examples of supply side market forces to the T chart and summarize findings.
SourcesSource A: Chained Migration, Miles, 2019
Source B: Mississippi cotton gin at Dahomey, 1899Source C: United States slave trade, 1830
Source D: Cotton picking, Mississippi, 1896
Source E: Cherokee Agency, 1838
Source F: The native American - 3rd Column, 1839
How did economic and political factors contribute to the brutality of slavery in the early 1800s?
Formative TasksStudents construct an annotated timeline that portrays key political and economic changes and their impact on slavery.
SourcesSource A: Cotton in a Global Economy, Dattel, 2017.
Source B: The Forced Migration of Enslaved People in the United States, 2011
Source C: The ship GLAD TIDINGS, ,1865
Source D: The History of American Slavery, Rothman, 2015
How did economic and political factors contribute to the Panic of 1837?
Formative TasksStudents add key political and economic changes and their impact on the Panic of 1837 to annotated timeline from Task 3.
SourcesSource A: New edition of MacBeth. Bank-oh's! Ghost, Clay, E. W. & Robinson, H. R. ,1837
Source B: Morning herald,1837
Source C: Uncle Sam sick with la grippe Clay, E. W. & Robinson, H. R. ,1837
Summative Performance Task
Argument: How Did Cotton Sow the Seeds of Panic? Construct an argument (e.g., detailed outline, poster, essay) that discusses the compelling question using specific claims and relevant evidence from historical and contemporary sources while acknowledging competing views.
Extension: Compare and contrast the Panic of 1837 and the 2008 Great Recession.
Taking Informed Action
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