Cuffy’s Description of the Progress of Cotton

Title: Cuffy’s Description of the Progress of Cotton
Description: John Wallis printed three production stories for children on coffee, sugar, and cotton, each narrated in a contrived dialect by the fictional character named Cuffy. Recently arrived in London from the West Indies, Cuffy learned how these commodities are made while enslaved, and he promises to tell audiences what he knows. The frontispiece shows the pleasures of consuming these goods, as ladies select cotton cloth for purchase from a smiling salesperson. The lighthearted account dismisses the cruelties endured by enslaved persons and encourages consumption of cotton products.
Creator: Wallis, John
Date: 1833
Subject: proslavery literature; production story; John Wallis; cotton; textiles
Rights: Public domain; Obtained permission for digital images; Courtesy of The Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Identifier: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Call Number/Collection ID: 811 P942
Bibliographic Citation: [Wallis, John (English publisher)]. (1833). Cuffy’s Description of the Progress of Cotton. Boston: Lilly, Wait, Colman, and Holden.

Item sets: Production stories for children; Proslavery production stories; Early production stories; Article images for "The Progress of Sugar"

Media: Cuffy’s Description of the Progress of Cotton, cover; Cuffy’s Description of the Progress of Cotton, p2, p3: "Sowing" and "Removing Provision Crops"; Cuffy’s Description of the Progress of Cotton, p6, p7: "Ginning," "Packing"