The Cotton Gin Research Paper

The cotton gin moved at incredible speed, faster than any human being during this time period. In its early stages, the cotton gin could process fifty pounds of cotton a day compared to one.(a turn of a crank) Eli thought that this would reduce slave labor because slaves would not have to individually pick the seeds out of the fiber,

During the 19th century slavery was a very prominent and controversial issue between the north and the southern states. In the South, most people believed that slavery was a profitable way of life and if the slavery was to be abolished it would then affect their economy. On the hand the northern had different opinions about slavery and intended to stop it. The fact that the perception were different between the two led to a very difficult situation in resolving the issue.

The cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney in 1794 had a powerful impact on the slavery business and the Civil War. It allowed one slave to produce much more cotton, making the demand for cotton and slaves much higher, ultimately provoking the civil war and causing much more pain and suffering than what was needed.

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.

1. How did the invention of the cotton gin affect slavery in the United States?

It was an agricultural haven for cotton, but also an area of innovation and adaptation. The businesspersons that resided in the South consisted of Northern and Southern businessmen looking to make a name for themselves. Furthermore, in this pursuit for wealth and power they created innovations that forever changed America. The invention of the Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney created a chain of industrial, social, and economical events that made America the nation it is today. These men sought to make a better America, consequently some innovations led to the abuse of human life and liberty, but out of this pain, a stronger nation was born. The fire that was set by these visionaries, even if it was lit by greed, created a nation hungry for the pursuit of a better life and better

The North and South both had opposite opinions about slavery, The South favored slavery because of there agricultural based economy which they needed slaves to attend to their harvests and crops, the North was against slavery because they were an industrialized nation they had no need for slavery. This debate went on and almost resulted

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.

     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.

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

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.

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's machine was the first to clean short-staple cotton. His cotton engine was made of spiked teeth that were on a revolving cylinder which when turned by a crank, pulled the cotton fiber through small openings to separate the seeds from the lint.                                    L-ter on, the gins became horse-drawn and were powered by water. As a result, the cotton was being produced at a much faster pace. The price of cotton also decreased. Cotton soon became the number one selling good.

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

     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