<P> The cotton industry grew under the British commercial empire . British cotton products were successful in European markets, constituting 40.5% of exports in 1784--1786 . Britain's success was also due to its trade with its own colonies, whose settlers maintained British identities, and thus, fashions . With the growth of the cotton industry, manufacturers had to find new sources of raw cotton, and cultivation was expanded to West India . High tariffs against Indian textile workshops, British power in India through the East India Company, and British restrictions on Indian cotton imports transformed India from the source of textiles to a source of raw cotton . Cultivation was also attempted in the Caribbean and West Africa, but these attempts failed due to bad weather and poor soil . The Indian subcontinent was looked to as a possible source of raw cotton, but intra-imperial conflicts and economic rivalries prevented the area from producing the necessary supply . </P> <P> Cotton's versatility allowed it to be combined with linen and be made into velvet . It was cheaper than silk and could be imprinted more easily than wool, allowing for patterned dresses for women . It became the standard fashion and, because of its price, was accessible to the general public . New inventions in the 1770s--such as the spinning jenny, the water frame, and the spinning mule--made the British Midlands into a very profitable manufacturing centre . In 1794--1796, British cotton goods accounted for 15.6% of Britain's exports, and in 1804--1806 grew to 42.3% . </P> <P> The Lancashire textile mills were major parts of the British industrial revolution . Their workers had poor working conditions: low wages, child labour, and 18 - hour work days . Richard Arkwright created a textile empire by building a factory system powered by water, which was occasionally raided by the Luddites, weavers put out of business by the mechanization of textile production . In the 1790s, James Watt's steam power was applied to textile production, and by 1839 200,000 children worked in Manchester's cotton mills . Karl Marx, who frequently visited Lancashire, may have been influenced by the conditions of workers in these mills in writing Das Kapital . </P> <P> Anglo - French warfare in the early 1790s restricted access to continental Europe, causing the United States to become an important--and temporarily the largest--consumer for British cotton goods . In 1791, U.S. cotton production was small, at only 900,000 kilograms . Several factors contributed to the growth of the cotton industry in the U.S.: the increasing British demand; innovations in spinning, weaving, and steam power; inexpensive land; and a slave labour force . The modern cotton gin, invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney, enormously grew the American cotton industry, which was previously limited by the speed of manual removal of seeds from the fibre, and helped cotton to surpass tobacco as the primary cash crop of the South . By 1801 the annual production of cotton had reached over 22 million kilograms, and by the early 1830s the United States produced the majority of the world's cotton . Cotton also exceeded the value of all other United States exports combined . The need for fertile land conducive to its cultivation lead to the expansion of slavery in the United States and an early 19th - century land rush known as Alabama Fever . </P>

When did the exports of british cotton goods increase dramatically