Soft, absorbent, breathable, and inexpensive, cotton was used to make cloth for clothing and household textiles.

Cotton refers to the soft fiber surrounding the seeds of the cotton plant. This plant is native to the tropical and subtropical growing regions of Africa, Asia and the Americas. Before the 19th century, most cotton was grown in India and processed in British textile mills. Americans considered it a luxury import.

Everything changed with the invention of the cotton gin in 1793. This machine could do the labor-intensive task of picking seeds out of cotton quickly and easily. Cotton then became a wildly profitable American cash crop. Thousands of white men from across America rushed to buy cheap, fertile land in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Much of the land they bought had belonged to the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indian nations. These Indian nations were forced to move west of the Mississippi River in 1830 by the Indian Removal Act to make way for whites hoping to make a quick fortune with their land.

Durable, breathable, and absorbent, linen was a utility fabric used for shirts, undergarments, and household textiles.

Linen, a product of the flax plant, was inexpensive but very labor-intensive to produce. It took nearly a year from the time the flax was planted until the yarn was ready for weaving.

Linen was the most common homespun fabric woven in early Illinois. Not everyone who spun their own linen yarn wove it themselves. Looms were large and expensive and less common than spinning wheels in rural households. Often women brought their yarn to a local or traveling weaver. Sometimes they paid a neighbor to borrow use of their loom.

Many 19th century Americans preferred to buy factory-made linen imported from Great Britain. England had been a world leader in making linen for more than 200 years. As methods for making cotton improved and factory-made cotton cloth became cheap, many people began to use cotton instead of linen.

Wool was warm, durable, and breathable. It was used for coats, pants, dresses, cloaks, and flannel undergarments.

Like linen, wool (the soft hair that forms the fleece of sheep and other mammals) was a staple of early American home textile production. Rural families often raised sheep. They sheared (shaved), scoured (scrubbed), picked, carded (straightened), and spun the wool into yarn that could be woven into wool fabric. Many people had their wool carded at mills and woven by professional weavers to lighten their workload. Women also traded or sold their extra yarn and cloth for income.

Urban dwellers in early America were more likely to buy woolen products from Great Britain. England was the world leader of the wool trade. English woolens were much finer than the coarse wool made in American homes.

By the late 1800s, American wool improved enough to able to compete with Great Britain. Two factors made this possible. First, Americans learned to breed sheep that were hardy and had fine wool. Second, the shortage of cotton during the Civil War allowed for the growth of the wool industry. The widespread availability of cheap, factory-made wool made homespun wool cloth an old-fashioned novelty by the end of the century.

Light, soft, lustrous, and easy to dye, silk was used for dresses, vests, stockings, and handkerchiefs.

Silk is a thin but very strong fiber produced by certain insect larvae to make cocoons. Silk production first began in China around 4000 BCE. In ancient times, silk was regarded as a luxury cloth reserved only for the wealthy and elite. It became a prized Chinese export. The secret to its manufacturing was closely guarded for many centuries. Silk manufacturing spread to Europe during the Crusades of the Middle Ages (1095-1272 AD). By the 1600s, France was a leading producer of silk.

The silk industry in the United States did not take off until after the Civil War. Prior to that, silk was an expensive import purchased only by the well-to-do for special occasion garments. After the 1870s, increased American silk production lowered prices for consumers. Even the women who worked in silk factories could then afford a silk dress for her “Sunday best.”