2-617-506 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Steamer loaded with cotton at a wharf, Savannah River, Augusta, Georgia', 1908. Cultivation of cotton using slaves brought huge profits to the owners of large plantations, making them some of the wealthiest men in the U.S. prior to the Civil War. By the 1850s, slaves made up 50% of the population of the main cotton states: Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. From a postcard produced by Raphael Tuck & Sons, 1908.