plantation

The domestic slave trade exploded as the Upper South sold people to cotton and sugar plantations, financed by London banks.

With the 1793 invention of the cotton gin—which separated cotton fibers from its seeds with a previously undreamed-of efficiency—America’s plantation economy expanded exponentially and so did its use of slave labor.

During a recent visit, a lot that had been cleared for a groundbreaking ceremony in May was deserted, with plantations around it.

Its eight columns stretching three stories high made the building look like a cross between the White House and a Southern plantation home.

Small farmers whose plots are close to soy plantations say they disrupt local weather patterns and make it harder to grow their crops.