Uneasiness over French aggressions led by Napoleon Bonaparte in Europe, embargoes prior to the War of 1812 between the fledgling United States and Great Britain, and disruptions fostered by the war itself moderated demand for the cotton. In 1809, growers could get only eight to ten cents a pound for their crop, but when peace seemed assured, the price skyrocketed to 19 cents a pound in the summer of 1815. And the figure just kept on rising. The seemingly unending demand caused the region called the Piedmont, including what is now Elbert and Abbeville Counties, to become the most productive cotton-growing section of the entire country by the early 1800's. Despite the efficiency of cotton gins, planting, tending, and harvesting the plants remained extremely labor-intensive, fueling the demand for slaves.
Statistics reveal how the slave population exploded.
In 1790, in Abbeville County, the vast majority of residents were white. Elbert County underwent a similar population change. In 1809, slightly more than half of the landowners in Elbert County owned slaves. By 1851, nearly 80 percent did. Contemporary residents of Georgia and South Carolina who shared their memories with oral historians recounted tales told to them as children by former slaves, usually relatives.