Cotton was often considered the foundation of the Confederacy. The question this essay will examine is “To what extent did cotton influence the outbreak of the Civil War.” To adequately answer the needs of these questions, this article will explore economic events and factors from the 19th century until the outbreak of the Civil War Civil War in 1861. Cotton's role substantially contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War through economic, political and social impact . These factors causing the Civil War are influenced by the push for cotton in the South's economic interests, which has a political impact on states' rights and the social rights of enslaved peoples. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The cotton industry experienced an exponential boom in 1793 when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. The gin separated the seed from the fiber much more efficiently. Then the cotton industry took off, becoming the most dominant in the South. Cotton's major contribution to the Southern economy thus engaged the United States in foreign trade to countries such as Great Britain, but also involved the United States in controversial morality through its reliance on slavery. The cotton industry drove the South's economic interests. The North and South contained many economic differences regarding industry and urbanization. The North was much more industrial, Massachusetts alone produced more manufactured goods than all the Confederate states. The South believed in an agricultural lifestyle. An example of this is seen in cotton as a cash crop in Mississippi. The entire northern half of the state of Mississippi was settled when the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians were driven out between 1830 and 1832. This allowed for a boom in cotton production, in 1834 Mississippi produced 85 million pounds of cotton. Two years later, cotton production increased to 125 million pounds. In the entire United States, Mississippi produced a quarter of the total cotton (Rothman, 2015). The growing capital of the cotton industry expanded to become a powerful source of global exports. By 1850, cotton sales accounted for 50 percent of U.S. exports. The cotton trade ensured prosperity for society. The South also used cotton to trade arms with Great Britain, as raw cotton was essential to the European economy (Dattel, 2008). The importance of cotton in the South provided economic power for a diplomatic strategy in the changing Confederate states. Cotton was the South's main defense in supporting states' rights. The South commonly referred to slavery as a “peculiar institution” and that abolitionists posed a threat to a state-governed right. This sparked a quest to preserve the institution of slavery. One factor that led to the outbreak of the war was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was made because of the inability of the United States to agree whether the institution of slavery would be legal or not. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed the new territories to decide whether they were a free or slave state through popular sovereignty, while breaking the Missouri Compromise. The fight against slavery moved to unrecognized territories. Southern supporters of slavery and Northern abolitionists fled to Kansas motivated to preserve and destroy slavery practices. The vote that determined the outcome of Kansas led to the seizure of ballot boxes and illegal castings. The growing tensions earned it the name “Bleeding Kansas.” While many Northern arguments in an attempt to abolish the.