The Cotton Gin allowed cotton to be produced nearly fifty times faster than before is implemented, drastically increasing the amount of cotton that was sold, and grown. New plantations were everywhere, and the economy of cotton and the south was booming. However, to keep up with this drastic growth, slaves were needed, and their populations skyrocketed.
Although increasing the slaves populations was not alone a yoke upon them, the dependency that the south felt toward the slaves was. The increase in cotton production led to cotton becoming the largest export in the south. This created a one export economy, and with the slaves being the primary source of labor, freedom was not an option in any aspect of their future, and stronger laws were enforced, such as the Fugitive slave act, for without the slaves, the southern economy would collapse. This was the yoke upon their shoulders.
