It is worth noting that the cotton industry was booming in the 1860s as a consequence of the American Civil War and its repercussions on cotton markets in North America.[29] This quick and illusory economic growth provided enough income to the Northeast but was followed by debt, entrenchment, and stress during the 1870s.[29] With industrialization and the improvement of living standards in Europe and North America, coffee consumption expanded greatly.[30] In the decade of the 1820s, coffee accounted for 19% of total exports, but by 1891, this share had risen to 63%.[30] The product, produced almost exclusively in the three Southeastern states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais, drove sugar and cotton prices down, dragging the Northeast’s economy toward decline shortly before the drought.[30]