{"product_id":"9781603063975","title":"In the Land of Cotton: How Old Times There Still Shape Alabama's Future","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the beginning there was the land promising prosperity and independence. Enough that the population of what is now Alabama increased 1,000 percent from 1810-20. Descendants of Barbados slave lords in South Carolina heard about the rich, fertile soils in central and west Alabama. Scots-Irish came down the Appalachians to settle in the Tennessee Valley and Piedmont sections.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo a very large degree, this newfound world revolved around cotton to feed the ever-hungry mills of England. Now, looking back over the span of two centuries we see that this cotton culture established a mindset that has yet to loosen its grip on Alabama. Cotton declared that manual labor always trumped the capacity to think and that a keen mind was of little use when cotton needed to be planted, chopped, or picked. So plantation owners made sure slaves could not go to school; later, landowners with sharecroppers figured children should be in the field instead of the school house.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis mentality trapped thousands of Alabama citizens in an endless cycle where poverty and lack of education became a shaky foundation for hoped-for prosperity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NewSouth, Incorporated","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47031281516784,"sku":"9781603063975","price":7.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781603063975_p0.jpg?v=1763826301","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781603063975","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}