Cotton Gin

Have you ever wondered how we are able to get the things we use daily made of cotton, don’t worry here’s the answer!

 The creation of the cotton gin is important because it helped the farmers separate the seed from the cotton. This was a difficult thing to do because the seeds were buried inside of the cotton. Eli Whitney realized that the slaves had a difficult time picking the seeds from the cotton bolls. He accepted an invitation to stay with Catherine Greene who was the widow of an American Revolutionary War general near Savannah Georgia. While there Whitney learned of the production of cotton, and how the farmers faced hard times making a living not being able to pick the cotton faster. He decided to put together a simple invention to make it easier for the slaves to separate the seed from the cotton bolls in a shorter amount of time. Whitney worked on getting a patent for his invention that he planned to build and install throughout the south. The production of cotton increased in the south. The number of slaves and need for them also increased in the United States. This was all brought about because, in 1794, Eli Whitney patented a very simple machine, the cotton gin.

The farmers were excited about the idea of Whitney’s invention that could improve the production of cotton surprising, since they had no intentions sharing any of their percentage or profits with him. So, Whitney found out in that time the patent laws had loopholes that would make it hard to protect his rights as an inventor. However, the cotton gin still transformed and increased the production of cotton in the American economy.

The production of cotton increased in the south which made cotton a cash crop by 1860. The number of slaves in the United States had increased. Although the cotton gin made the process less labor-intensive, Farmers earned more profits which led to grow larger crops which required more slaves were a cheaper form of labor. The southern economy depended on cotton and slavery, and continued to hold onto their social order. However, the northerners focused more on industry than agriculture, which in turn made a difference in the two economies. Whitney had no idea that his invention would affect slavery in a negative way.

    This paper is about the importance of Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin. As a result of Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin, today we have many things made from cotton.

Gloria 10/23/14