Question

Before the cotton gin was invented, which of the following crops was the main export of labor by enslaved people? A coconut B tea C tobacco D rubber

Answer 1

Before the invention of the cotton gin, tobacco was the main export crop of labor by enslaved people, particularly in the Chesapeake colonies. With the advent of Eli Whitney's cotton gin, cotton rapidly overtook tobacco, becoming the dominant commercial crop in the antebellum South. The correct answer is option: C tobacco

Step-by-step explanation:

Before the invention of the cotton gin, the main export crop of labor by enslaved people was tobacco. In the colonial period, especially in the Chesapeake colonies, tobacco was the most lucrative product and a key driver in the U.S. slave market. Enslaved labor was vital for planting, harvesting, and processing the tobacco crops. Sugar was also a valuable crop grown by enslaved persons, requiring intense labor and shaping the global slave trade.

However, after Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in the 1790s, cotton quickly surpassed tobacco as the central commercial crop and primary commodity in the antebellum South, leading to a significant expansion in the production and export of cotton facilitated by enslaved labor.