When European settlers came to Georgia, some thought that planting mulberry trees, which are home to silkworms, would be the road to riches. Silkworms would provide the fiber to make silk cloth which was highly prized by the European upper classes. In 1734, a group of persecuted German-speaking Protestants from Salzburg, Austria, founded the town of Ebenezer about 25 miles northwest of Savannah. After a decade, the residents began producing high-quality silk from the mulberry trees they had planted.
The Revolutionary War ended production completely in 1779. It did not recover after the war, and cotton replaced silk production. Cotton was easier to grow and was more profitable than silk. Along the Georgia coast, around 1785, growers began importing long staple Sea Island cotton seed from the West Indies.
Farmers in North Fulton began growing a different type of cotton as well. Lynn Tinley, a board member of the Milton Historical Society with a PhD from Emory University in American Studies with an emphasis on textiles says, “short staple Upland cotton fibers are lower quality than Sea Island cotton fibers, but the plant produces higher yields. It is well suited to the climate in North Fulton.”
Seeds are particularly difficult to remove from short staple cotton. (Staple refers to the length of fibers.) The rapid expansion of short staple cotton production in this part of Georgia was made possible by the perfection of the cotton gin which Eli Whitney patented in 1794. According to the National Archives, Whitney’s idea was based on earlier gins and on ideas from others. Whitney thought he would become rich by making and installing gins throughout Georgia and the South, charging farmers a fee for doing the ginning for them. Farmers revolted, and Whitney’s dream of great wealth did not come true.
Upland cotton is well suited for basic…
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