The trend shown in the chart was made possible primarily by which combination of innovations?
- A
Mechanical harvesters and railroad freight discounts
- B
Federal subsidies for cotton growers under the American System
- C
Steam-powered factories in the South and immigrant labor
- Dcheck_circle
Eli Whitney's cotton gin and the expansion of slavery into the Deep South
Explanation
Whitney's cotton gin (1793) made short-staple cotton commercially viable, and the forced migration of enslaved laborers to the Deep South enabled the explosive production growth shown.