Doing research on cotton, I found it extremely interesting and hope you will too.
Cotton is from the family of hibiscus and okra plants that produce a vegetable fiber that is used in the manufacture of cloth. The beginning of cotton is unknown to us but scientists have found cotton bolls in caves in Mexico to be estimated 7000 years old. It seems to be the same cotton grown here in the U.S.A.
As far back as 3000 BC, cotton was found to be grown in Pakistan and woven into cloth. Egypt was probably growing cotton in the Nile Valley also. Around 800 AD, an Arab merchant brought cotton to Europe but not necessarily from the Arab countries but perhaps from other countries.
Cotton was found to be grown in the Bahamas by Christopher Columbus. By the 1500's, cotton was grown around the world. History indicates that Florida planted cotton as early at 1556 and in Virginia around 1607. The Colonies in early 1600's were growing cotton by the James River in Virginia.
England was one of the first to develop cotton spinning machines around 1730. Of course, in America we know that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793 which removed the seeds from the fiber thus supplying tremendous quantities of cotton fiber to the expanding textile industry. The value of cotton in the U.S. rose from approximately $100,000. to $8 million yearly.
The Civil War in America had an impact on the production of cotton which made Egypt an important supplier of the much needed cotton. Many scholars believe that cotton planted in Egypt a thousand years ago was the finest quality of cotton that it is in today's market.
Regardless whether cotton was available in ancient times or not, we know Mohammed Ali who is noted to be the founder of the present day Egypt, brought the production of cotton to Egypt in 1822 that was used commercially. It is a fact that Egypt had native cotton referred to as Baladi before 1822, but it was not of the finest quality that was needed in Europe. It had to withstand the ginning and milling and had to be durable enough to be woven into high quality cloth.
In the mid 1800's, a man named Jumel who was of French origin had learned about cotton from his visits to America and thus tried to convince Mohammed Ali that Ethiopian cotton called "Maho" could industrialize the output of cotton in Egypt. Mohammed Ali could not be convinced, so Jumel and a local man planted Maho cotton near Heliopolis. By 1820, they had shipped approximate 3 bales of the cotton to Trieste which changed Mohammed Ali so that he put Jumel in charge of the cotton plantations.
Around 1822, some Americans arrived in Cairo to demonstrate to Mohammed Ali a Whitney Saw Gin but his interest was in a roller gin. The roller machine did not work for the Egyptians. Though there was difficulties in the cotton production in Egypt, Mohammed Ali saw that cotton was going to bring wealth to Egypt. All the cotton in Egypt was owned by Mohammed Ali and he began to plant the crop all over the Delta. He began to sell the whole crop of cotton at a fixed price bringing much capital into Egypt.
It should be noted that this one commodity of cotton did bring great wealth to Egypt. As a result, Europe's interest in Egypt's cotton grew because of this single crop, it tied the raw material of cotton to European manufacturing. It was Mohammed Ali who controlled the tremendous sums of cash from this cotton production. Through the production of cotton, a credit system was brought to Egypt. The banks of Europe wanted Mohammed Ali and his successors to borrow money from them at extremely high interest rates. The cotton production was not enough to industrialize Egypt, it needed more money and Europe was there to offer the funds. As a result of borrowing the European money to modernize Egypt, it ended up into debt with Europe but it was a debt that was manageable.
Cotton is from the family of hibiscus and okra plants that produce a vegetable fiber that is used in the manufacture of cloth. The beginning of cotton is unknown to us but scientists have found cotton bolls in caves in Mexico to be estimated 7000 years old. It seems to be the same cotton grown here in the U.S.A.
As far back as 3000 BC, cotton was found to be grown in Pakistan and woven into cloth. Egypt was probably growing cotton in the Nile Valley also. Around 800 AD, an Arab merchant brought cotton to Europe but not necessarily from the Arab countries but perhaps from other countries.
Cotton was found to be grown in the Bahamas by Christopher Columbus. By the 1500's, cotton was grown around the world. History indicates that Florida planted cotton as early at 1556 and in Virginia around 1607. The Colonies in early 1600's were growing cotton by the James River in Virginia.
England was one of the first to develop cotton spinning machines around 1730. Of course, in America we know that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793 which removed the seeds from the fiber thus supplying tremendous quantities of cotton fiber to the expanding textile industry. The value of cotton in the U.S. rose from approximately $100,000. to $8 million yearly.
The Civil War in America had an impact on the production of cotton which made Egypt an important supplier of the much needed cotton. Many scholars believe that cotton planted in Egypt a thousand years ago was the finest quality of cotton that it is in today's market.
Regardless whether cotton was available in ancient times or not, we know Mohammed Ali who is noted to be the founder of the present day Egypt, brought the production of cotton to Egypt in 1822 that was used commercially. It is a fact that Egypt had native cotton referred to as Baladi before 1822, but it was not of the finest quality that was needed in Europe. It had to withstand the ginning and milling and had to be durable enough to be woven into high quality cloth.
In the mid 1800's, a man named Jumel who was of French origin had learned about cotton from his visits to America and thus tried to convince Mohammed Ali that Ethiopian cotton called "Maho" could industrialize the output of cotton in Egypt. Mohammed Ali could not be convinced, so Jumel and a local man planted Maho cotton near Heliopolis. By 1820, they had shipped approximate 3 bales of the cotton to Trieste which changed Mohammed Ali so that he put Jumel in charge of the cotton plantations.
Around 1822, some Americans arrived in Cairo to demonstrate to Mohammed Ali a Whitney Saw Gin but his interest was in a roller gin. The roller machine did not work for the Egyptians. Though there was difficulties in the cotton production in Egypt, Mohammed Ali saw that cotton was going to bring wealth to Egypt. All the cotton in Egypt was owned by Mohammed Ali and he began to plant the crop all over the Delta. He began to sell the whole crop of cotton at a fixed price bringing much capital into Egypt.
It should be noted that this one commodity of cotton did bring great wealth to Egypt. As a result, Europe's interest in Egypt's cotton grew because of this single crop, it tied the raw material of cotton to European manufacturing. It was Mohammed Ali who controlled the tremendous sums of cash from this cotton production. Through the production of cotton, a credit system was brought to Egypt. The banks of Europe wanted Mohammed Ali and his successors to borrow money from them at extremely high interest rates. The cotton production was not enough to industrialize Egypt, it needed more money and Europe was there to offer the funds. As a result of borrowing the European money to modernize Egypt, it ended up into debt with Europe but it was a debt that was manageable.