In South Carolina...it was all about RICE, not cotton believe it or not.
In the "low country" on the coast of South Carolina...it was the biggest producer of rice in the world.
That later went to China.
But slavery was used in South Carolina for getting rice during that period of history.
I never even knew that until I spent time in Charleston and toured some of the old plantation homes that are still there today and the "Slave Market" in downtown Charleston.