The Cotton Gin And Its Impact On The Southern States

In 1794, U.S. inventor Eli Whitney patented a machine that transformed the production of cotton by significantly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber called the cotton gin. By the middle of the 19th century cotton had become America’s leading export. This gave Sothern’s the rationalization to maintain and expand slavery despite large number of abolitionists in America. While the cotton gin made cotton processing easier, it facilitated planters in earning greater profits, resulting in larger cotton crops. This in turn increased slavery because it was the cheapest form of labor. As for the North, particularly New England, the cotton gin and cotton’s increase meant a steady supply of raw materials for its textile mills.

The cotton gin was a simple machine which de-seeded cotton. Eli Whitney created this cotton gin in 1793 when he was in Georgia. When living on a plantation in Georgia, he heard some visitors complaining about how cotton was a nice crop to have but took too long to seperate from the seeds (Patchett, 17). The visitors were told about how Eli was a good mechanic and saw some of what Eli had made. The visitors at the plantation went to Eli asking him to make something to help with this cotton problem. At first Eli was reluctant to make anything for the men because he, as he said, “had no extraordinary mechanical skills”(Patchett,18). Secondly, he said he knew nothing of cotton for he had never seen cotton or cotton seeds. Then Whitney changed his mind knowing he couldn’t resist the challenge and began a search for cotton. Once he found some cotton it only took Eli a few days to have a machine in mind (Patchett, 19).

Southerner farmers had previously attempted to grow cotton, some the American society desperately lacked, and however these farmers soon gave up and decide to focus on producing rice and tobacco crops. Cotton had proved to be far too intense labor and was extremely inefficient. It would take one slave a whole workday to separate only one pound of cottonseed from the fibers of the plant. So when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, which was able to separate the seeds from the fibers with ease, it allowed slaves to produce upwards of fifty pounds of cotton in a workday. This invention revolutionized the cotton industry, the southerners were producing and the crop and harvesting so that the northerners could manufacture cotton

After reviewing the information given it was brought to my attention how little I was taught about the cotton gin. Something I learned while watching the video provided was that the need for slaves became greater after the cotton gin was created. It only makes since, if the cotton was being cleaned as fast as it would equal to one hundred people, you would need more hands on deck to handle the freshly pulled, and clean cotton. To hear the impact that the cotton gin had on slavery truly shocked me. While at first it wasn't clear to me why the cotton gin would have had an impact. Before doing research I thought it was a relief to the slaves, they finally had a machine that would allow them to take a step back and not work as hard. I was clearly

     One of the most important events caused by the cotton gin was the exile of the Cherokee Indians along the Trail of Tears. As the demand for cotton and slaves grew the South began to look for more land, and discovered it in the land owned by the Cherokee Indians. The land was taken from them beginning in 1828 when the Georgia government outlawed the Cherokee government and began to take the land. This continued until 1838 when, despite a Supreme Court order, federal troops drove the last of the Cherokee from the land, that covered Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina to Oklahoma where many of them died. This would not have occurred had it not been for the invention of the cotton gin. The cotton gin created a market for slavery. As the production of cotton rose so did the production of slavery. These enterprises needed land, which stimulated the wars against the Indians to take their land, which could then be used by cotton farmers, and plantation holders who bred slaves. Whitney’s cotton gin, and its ripple effect was having a major impact on the events in the American South.

When Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1794 there was not much of an impact at first, but once the 1800’s came around the cotton gin gained popularity. The cotton gin was used in the south by slaves to separate the cotton fiber from the seeds. It had teeth that pulled the fiber apart and let the seeds fall out. The north and south, both, were impacted by the cotton gin, but depending on who you ask; workers, slaves, slave/ plantation owners, mills owners; people would have different opinions.

Within ten days Eli Whitney was already starting his first attempt to invent a machine to help this problem. Whitney failed the first try but tried a second time and succeeded. Therefore, the creation of the cotton gin developed.

The atmosphere of America during the pre-Civil War period can be describe as a time of great changes and distress. Remnants of manifest destiny resided as a fraction of the common belief. The desire of wanting further developments and utilizing more land reached its highest potential. At the same time, a revolution occurred in the North making a shift from the agricultural work to a market based economy. The North now less focused on expanding are more focused on business, trade, and service. On the other hand, the South with the new invention of Eli Whitney 's cotton gin made gathering cotton more efficient than ever before. With the uprising growth of the cotton industry, the Southerners wanted more land to make a larger sum of profits. The South dissatisfied with the territory of land they possessed now has a high hoped to acquire more land through the ideal of expansionism.

With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became very profitable. This machine was able to reduce the time it took to separate seeds from the cotton. However, at the same time the increase in the number of plantations willing to move from other crops to cotton meant the greater need for a large amount of cheap labor, i.e. slaves. Thus, the southern economy became a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on slavery. On the other hand, the northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. In fact, the northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods. This disparity between the two set up a

Economic and social differences between the north and the south was one of the events of slavery leading up to the Civil War. When the cotton gin was invented in 1793, cotton became a very profitable crop. Before the invention of the cotton gin, it would take one slave a day to remove the seeds from two pounds of cotton. After the invention of the cotton gin, it could be used to clean two pounds of cotton in just half an hour. With the invention of the cotton gin came an increase in the number of plantations willing and wanting to move from other crops to cotton. The south raised rice, sugar, and indigo, but cotton was its main crop. This move from other crops to cotton would cause for a greater need for a larger amount of laborers, meaning a greater need for slaves. The south, becoming a one crop economy, then became more dependent on cotton, thus more dependent on slaves. The north, on the other hand, was less focused on crops and

As far back as 84 years before the war, legal changes to slavery were already beginning to occur in the Northern states. From 1777 to 1804, majority of the north adapted one of three lawful ways of freeing slaves. Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts chose to abolish slavery all together. While New York, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey opted for the gradual emancipation, the states on the south of their borders chose something else. In Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware, where slaves were still a vital part of their workforce, only individual cases of emancipation were granted to some. (Roark et al., p. 259) At around the same time in 1793, the Southern states were introduced to a new invention that successfully altered their whole economy. The creation of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin made production of cotton easier and faster. This in turn, enabled the owners of the machine the ability to cater to the high demands of cotton worldwide. Unfortunately for the slaves in the South, cotton gins still required operation by an actual person, and the cotton gins was only used for one step (although separating the seeds from the cotton was the most difficult) out of the many steps

Throughout American history, there comes a time where a great invention is crafted that comes and impacts our society greatly. Inventions usually have an overall positive affect on the world, but not in the case of the cotton gin. 1792 is when Eli Whitney invented this machine(king cotton) When Eli invented it, he had no idea of the effect that it would have to American Society. The invention of the cotton gin caused an increase of slaves in the south with harsher working conditions, and it also fluctuated the southern economy, which all played a major role in the Civil War.

In 1793 the cotton industry bloomed because of Eli Whitney when he invented the cotton gin. With the invention of the cotton gin, cotton became a tremendously profitable industry, creating many fortunes for white plantation owners in the antebellum South. “American inventor Eli Whitney and his cotton gin improved the cleaning of raw cotton, facilitating the continuing growth of the industry in many locales.” This proves that the cotton industry rose after the gin was invented. It is evident that Eli Whitney played a major part of the growth of the cotton industry. Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin revolutionized the cotton industry.

With the economic system, the south had a very hard time producing their main source “cotton and tobacco”. “Cotton became commercially significant in the 1790’s after the invention of a new cotton gin by Eli Whitney. (PG 314)” Let

     Eli Whitney created one of the first causes of the Civil. In 1793 Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin greatly increased the amount of cotton produced. The cotton gin cleaned the cotton by extracting the cottonseeds efficiently. In the 1800’s, 36,000 bales of cotton were exported, but