In 1793, Eli Whitney transformed the slave culture and cotton economy with his new machine; the cotton gin. It separates the cotton fibers from its seeds. This allows for fifty times more cotton production bouncing from thousands of bales to millions of bales by 1850. Prices rose as well. Before his machine, slaves were used to pick and separate cotton, but it would take 10 hours to remove the seeds in order to get a pound of lint. After this invention, planters were given a new use for slavery, creating a boost in slave trade all together but especially from the South to the Southwest coast line. Cotton plantations grew and therefore so did the population of slaves. This now giant cotton economy was run solely on slave-labor. This gave Southerners
As one of the most influential and successful inventions during the Industrial Revolution, cotton gins brought so many conveniences to the cotton industry, and cotton became one of the fastest way to achieve enrichment. The overweight cotton development made cotton became the only economic resource in the south. Cotton helped the South grow more prosperity in agriculture, but the South still had the industry lags, and even their succeed in agriculture could not save their lack of development in other areas. The southerners relied on the agriculture so much that they ignore the importance of other business. “King Cotton” built a safe disguise to the southerners, which encouraged them to keep using cotton gins to make money because cotton was so important.
The Invention of the cotton gin greatly affected the growth of the south in the 1800s. It did so in many ways including effecting the souths economy, and causing the south to have a much higher demand for slaves. Eli Whitney’s invention revolutionized the cotton industry and caused it to grow and prosper. Because of this the south became a huge producer in the cotton industry causing the economy to skyrocket. One reason why Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin boosted the souths economy was the fact that it made cotton production much faster.
The 19th century was an era of dramatic change in the lives of African Americans. By the early 1800s, cotton was the most profitable cash crop, and slave owners focused on clearing lands and securing laborers to proliferate cotton production. The lack of available, fertile land in coastal areas compelled the move into the southern interior, sparking a massive westward migration of planters and slaves. The demands and rewards of the "King Cotton" economy resulted in a fivefold population increase during the first six decades of the 19th century, but it kept the South an unsophisticated agricultural economy.
Since the creation of the cotton gin, cotton was the most important plantation crop. With the possibility for mass production of cotton products, the need for labor increased as well, making slavery the most viable option. The cotton produced by plantations fueled northern manufacturing, forcing the north to rely on the south for economic growth. With the cotton economy depending on slavery, cotton became a “great staple crop” that is crucial in the south since it “cannot be carried on in any portion of our country where there are not slaves” (Doc B).
Slavery was also increasing because you never had to pay the slaves that you owned and the plantations required a lot of labor, so slaves were a lot cheaper than the indentured servants. The profits from tobacco and rice led planters to import enslaved Africans, which made the economy depend on slavery. Although slavery was a morally
The cotton gin’s purpose was to tear the fiber away from the seed as the spikes revolved between the slats of a hopper. It eventually was shown that the cotton gin was fifty times more effective than the hand picking process for cotton (Eaton, p 26, 27, 28; Kennedy, p
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.
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. At the center of the entire institution of slavery, and central to its defense, was the economic domination it provided a young country in international markets. In the early 19th century, cotton was a popular commodity and overtook sugar as the main crop produced by slave labor. The production of cotton became the nation’s top priority; America supplied ¾ of the cotton supply to the entire world.
Between 1790 and 1850, the production of cotton had increased by 1,000-fold and by 1850, the United States was exporting two-thirds of the world's cotton supply. For the United States, cotton represented three-fifths of all American exports (Woods,
The Marvelous Eli Whitney Have you ever wondered what material was used to make the clothing you are wearing? Well, a lot of it is cotton. Cotton is a very profitable plant, but it is very hard to take the seeds out of the cotton fibers. So, here came a young man that had just graduated college and devised a machine to take the seeds out of the cotton fibers; the machine was called the “cotton gin.” His machine could help a farmer produce up to fifty pounds a day versus only one pound a day.
As you can see, the pollution had reached such an extent that rivers were bordering between water, and sewer filth (Faraday). Major company owners such as J.P. Morgan received a bad reputation for exploiting workers, however, not all company owners were cut from the same cloth. It would have been difficult for these owners, caught up in the frenzy of commerce to be omnipresent in all of their factories at one time. As a result, an unsupervised factory owner, much like a tax collector in Biblical times, would take certain liberties, and decide to increase profit without looking to the welfare of the labor force (The Industrial Revolutionists).
The invention of the cotton gin decreased labor and increased the production of usable cotton and the demand for items being made from it. Advancements being made in both water and land transportation led to explosive growth in cities and factories; thus improving the national economy little by little. All in all, the revolution taking place in the Americas after the war of 1812 turned the nation into the successful, worldwide marketplace we know of
As cotton farms grew, slavery also increased. Although machines helped speeding up the process of developing thread, cotton still needed to get picked up by hands. Slaves worked on the farms and picked up cotton, which only benefited planters (History Learning Site). Human resources affected the growth of cotton by allowing planters to make more money, and produce more cotton. The third resources is capital.
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.
Eli Whitney was the inventor of the first cotton gin. On top of the major reliance of agriculture in the South, many Land Owners relied on slaves to take care of mass amounts of cash crops. With the increase in the need for cotton, tobacco, and other goods, slavery also became an important part of life in the South for farmers, and Land Owners. After the Erie Canal was built, tariffs on importing, and exporting goods from European countries.