Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin

Although the creation of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney improved the South’s economy it also made the South more dependent on slaves. With this new invention, a person could yield eight times as much cotton in one day versus the traditional method. It also made the Southern people more dependent on slavery than ever before. As more cotton could be produced in one day the need for slaves grew higher. No longer could the South due

The use of the cotton gin had a major impact on slavery by expanding the use and population of slaves. “This machine revolutionized the process of separating cotton from its seed, making it dramatically faster and less expensive to turn picked cotton into usable cotton for textiles” the author said. Harvesting the cotton fields was intense work and the more cotton that was being produced lead to more fields causing more slaves to be needed to work those fields. All the large cotton plantations that the south maintained, by 1850 the slave population increased tremendously. “Southern wealth had become reliant on this one crop and thus was completely dependent on slave-labor.” The article stated which means the number one crop the south provided

Geography Impacted sectional differences that led to the civil war. The northerners were against slavery and the southerners were proslavery. It depended upon what state that you have lived in if you were a free state or not. In the south there were More than 4 million slaves many who worked on plantations.

Prior to the Revolutionary War, there was an existing struggle between social classes as the southern states had an inflexible social structure, whereas in the northern states the Industrial Revolution was beginning to take place, causing a dramatic shift of labor force after the country gained its independence in 1783. With the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1791, southern landowners took advantage of the slave force to increase their profits radically, and this reliance on slaves for the

Invented by Eli WHitney in 1793, because of the cotton gin it reduced the amount of time and cost of separating the cotton seeds from white fiber. Due to the cotton gin, cotton farming became much more profitable in the South. Because of the cotton gin, the demand of the cotton grew and increased slavery. There was economic consequences due to the cotton gin and the increase of the cotton

In the 17th centuries early settlers came to America in the hope of taking their custom and traditions forward. However, the environment and geography brought changes to their lifestyles. Soon, people became to alter their pattern of living in the different colonies. During the 17th and 18th centuries, geography and the environment profoundly influenced the economic development and overall health and success of the two regions called the Chesapeake and the New England, which began to form in the early 17th century.

Under a task system, slaves would be assigned several specific tasks for a particular day and when all their work was finished, the slaves could leave for the day. The expansion of the cotton dynasty carried millions of Americans to the southwest. Within fifty years the territorial size of the United States had nearly doubled as settlers were lured west in hopes of cheap land and rich natural resources. Southern plantations had become an important factor to economic success for both the United States and Southern economies. Plantations played a vital role in developing the world's global market by producing the four biggest cash crops: rice, cotton, tobacco, and sugar. With the increasingly high market demand for these popular goods, slaveholders bought more slaves to produce more goods faster. Working on the larger plantations, slaves mostly endured long harsh days of intense labor. It was also common at plantations with more than fifty slaves to have a sexual division of labor between men and women assigning slaves traditionally gendered jobs. On plantations male slaves worked as carpenters, blacksmiths, coopers, and boilers. Slave women were put to the task of sewing, weaving, spinning, cooking, and cleaning. The plantations were often busy so slaveholders relied on overseers to supervise the slaves quality of work in the fields and help overlook the cultivation of crops. Outside the plantations and inside the household, operations were run differently. Some slaveholders hired personal managers for their households while others just relied on mistresses to oversee and handle household affairs. Slaveholder’s were infatuated with becoming the best cotton manufacturer as well as becoming skilled producers of sugar and rice. Eager for success, they put their slaves to hard work on the plantations; clearing substantial amounts of forest and hoeing fields for harvest. By the 1850’s Congress still

The South and their economy benefited a lot from The Cotton Gin. This invention increased the problems between the North and the South. With the rise in the production of cotton, the south needed more slaves in order to control and to work the cotton production. This invention increased the demand for slave labor. The invention of The Cotton Gin led to a prosperity in the Southern economy creating a one-crop economy for the South. There was a pressure put on the relationship between the North and the South and their different perceptions of slavery

Beginning in the late 1600s and continuing through the 1700s the demand for sugar became incredibly high due to its addictive qualities. To supply the consumers with sugar they were craving, wealthy Europeans established sugar plantations throughout the Caribbean and built a thriving slave industry, so their need for cheap labor could be satisfied. Sugar consumption increased from 4.6lbs to 16.2lbs per capita annually from 1700 to 1770 due to the increasing addiction of the consumers. The manufacturers were faced with maintaining a high crop yield, but luckily the Caribbean islands provided an ideal location for growing cane sugar. Once plantations were constructed yet another issue confronted the owners, cheap labor. For the plantations to produce large enough quantities of sugar to fulfill the demand, many slaves were necessary; thus, a successful slave industry arose with the aid of these wealthy entrepreneurs who hoped to own successful plantations. The absentee owners in England, Spain, and France became increasingly wealthy as the demand and industry for sugar

With the invention of the “cotton gin” and other inventions like it, it caused the demand for slaves to go up and to man these machines. The crops they grew in the South were tobacco, rice, sugar cane, and indigo. These were mostly the "big money" crops sold. Near some of the bays in the South, they gathered fish, oysters, and crabs. They also grew cotton as it was a promising crop, but it was difficult for them to get out the unnecessary parts. That is why the invention of the “cotton gin” was very important for the South, as it helped them get out seeds faster than a slave could. Ten years after the invention of the “cotton gin”, cotton became the South’s most important

One of the most controversial of these is the impact its’ invention had on slavery in America. Instead of slavery becoming obsolete which was the inspiration behind this invention, the cotton gin actually contributed to a massive explosion in the growth of slavery. Whitney thought his invention would decrease the labor involved in production of cotton which in turn would decrease the need for slaves. However, the cotton gin just changed how slaves were used in the production of cotton and did not decrease their need. The cotton gin increased cotton productivity which increased profits for farmers. The increase in profits led to the demand for more slaves to help plant and harvest the cotton. The slaves were no longer needed in the removal of seeds from cotton but were needed in increase numbers for planting and harvesting. There was a direct correlation between the increase in cotton production and the increase in slave populations

Between 1800 and 1860 two major things changed within the country. The cash crops changed from tobacco and rice to the new money maker cotton. Along with the crops changing the slave trade grew to replace the economic short fall in the Chesapeake area. These changed occurred due to the supply and demand of commonly bought goods. Another contributing factor for the crops changing was the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 and the use of cotton in textile facilities. Lastly, with the expansion of the country to the west and into what we now know as Texas drove the need for more slaves to work the land.

The immense growth of industry and an increasing drive to move further westward from 1815 to 1860 marked a time that would forever change the fabric of America. Economic and territorial expansion would further drive sectionalism within the nation and disrupt national unity to a nearly unfathomable extent.

The growth of the textile industry, in particular, generated an increased need for cotton, which in turn perpetuated the south's reliance on slavery. With the creation of Eli Whitney's cotton gin, cotton could be produced much more efficiently and effectively through slave labor, and was also more accessible to small farms as well. The social gap between the rich and the poor in the South did not widen as much as in the North, because white people, regardless of whether they were independent landed farmers, landless farmers and farm workers, or plantation owners, had a "bond" of racial solidarity that was strongly emphasized in southern society, which solidified and aided in the retention of slavery as an institution. Although most southerners did not own slaves, and those who did rarely owned more than 10, every white southerner benefitted from slavery because it meant they could never be at the bottom of the social or economic hierarchy, and also, slaveholders often rented out slave labor to other farmers during harvest season. Even though slavery was becoming more of a divisive issue, the border states (Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland) that could have ousted the slave-cotton system based on public opinion chose to remain slave states. Slavery was one of the few aspects of Antebellum society that was

The impact of slavery on the Old South is a difficult measure to establish because slavery was the Old South. While the popular adage was “Cotton is King,” it was simply a microcosm of the delusion of the day. Truly, slavery was king. Slavery was the growing tension of the time, political catalyst and ironically crux of American power. To the masses, slavery was a social defining stance; the “peculiar institution” to some and a defining moral line to others, American life was changed depending on what view you took of slavery. No matter your stance at the time, one thing became clear: socially, politically and economically, slavery was the fabric of American success and gave birth to the Old South as we know it today.