The Cotton Gin: Eli Whitney's Impact On Slavery

Eli Whitney invented The Cotton Gin in 1794. The purpose of this invention was to speeding up the elimination of seeds from the cotton fiber and as a result, an increase in the production of cotton. The South and their economy benefited a lot from The Cotton Gin. This invention increased the problems between the North and the South.

June 22, 1865 marked the end of the Civil War of the United States. Slavery had been practiced in North America since the colonial days. It was more common in the southern region of the United States, where most of the plantations were located. They needed slaves to help gather cotton and other plantation crops. The North was an industrial area, so they had less of a need for raw manpower than the South.

The South’s economy was built on agriculture, the soil that they used played a key part because they were able to grow lots of food and cotton. I know this because in Discovering Our Past: The American Journey, the text explains, “Why was there little industry in the South? One reason was because of the boom in cotton sales. Because agriculture was so profitable, Southerners remained committed to farming rather than starting new businesses.” This is a key difference between the North and the South.

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

However, he did create "the service of slavery", due to the high death rate from the upper class, Without the upper class, he wouldn 't have been as wealthy, so he came up with an idea. His theory, relied on the assumption that most of the poor, who did not contribute or increase his bank account, would take care of the wealthy then maybe the wealthy wouldn 't be as sick; therefore, they would buy his goods

What was the south all about? Cotton was not the only crop grown in the South, but it was sure the crop that fueled the Southern economy. Southerners began saying ''Cotton is king'' because cotton became so populated that they would choose it over Industry. The cotton gin was a compact machine that removed seeds from cotton fibers. The value of enslaved people increased because of their key role in producing cotton and sugar.

In the early 1800s, when plantation owners left almost all other crops in favour of the newly profitable cotton. To increase cotton production planters purchased more slaves from Africa and the West Indies before the slave trade was banned in 1808. Thousands of blacks were brought into the United States during these years to tend to cotton fields, the size of plantations increased from relatively small plots to huge farms with as many as several hundred slaves each. Because the entire Southern economy became dependent on cotton, it also became dependent on slavery. Although Northern factories certainly benefited indirectly from slavery, Northern social customs were not tied to slavery as Southern customs were.

The domestic slave trade between 1820 and 1860 took a toll on many slave families. As the expansion of the cotton kingdom grew the need for money began the trade amongst masters and slave traders. Masters sold men, women, and children. Many families were torn apart some due to punishment.

Jackson wanted the Indians removed so their land could be used to grow cotton. More cotton meant more goods which lead into a better economy. Early in the 19th century the United States was growing rapidly into the lower south. Growing down south was a problem because Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole were settled there. Americans were desperate to expand so the citizens convinced the federal government into acquiring Indian territory.

Have you ever been stronger then someone, or tougher than someone and wanted to put them down and be the ruler of them? Well imperialism seeks to dominate a weaker nation politically, economically and socially. Imperialism has changed, some ways that it has changed is the industrial revolution, they used this for natural resources and new markets, this was helpful because it's a good place to grow and settle things, another way it was helpful was by they invested in profits so they had a lot of money into certain things that would benefit them down the road. They also did a lot of business with africa and asia, after the revolution, the western used their powers to basically take over, they later took over most of the lands in Africa and Asia. They wanted to stop this, so they decided to start adding more colonies.

With American manufactures rising, the government decided to impose a tariff or tax on all imported and exported goods. The excess tax would decrease the import of foreign goods and increase business for the American manufactures in the North. This forced the South to either pay more for their goods, get the goods from the North or manufacture their goods themselves. Slavery was holding the Southern economy together. The South needed slavery and every day more and more Americans opposed it.

The farming industry also prospered outdoing local people and needed other resources to work these growing farms. Indentured servants were the way to go, but these young men wanted more and ended up rebelling for their rights. After the rebel masters were precocious with who they wanted to which they resorted to African Americans. African American were treated cruelly, but some colonies had started to realize that, Northern colonies that thrived in merchant businesses stood up to slavery and wanted it abolished compared to the south who strived for more slavery. In result of the animosity the Mason-Dixon line was created to split the states of slavery rights.

In the post-Civil War South, the economic situation that followed the emancipation of slaves and therefore the loss of the labor force, forced the South to find a suitable replacement for slavery. This also meant enacting laws designed to keep former slaves tied to the land. The economic system, which replaced slavery, was sharecropping. To keep the former slaves tied to the land, however, laws such as the black codes ensured a steady stream of workers to harvest the crops. Furthermore, vagrancy laws, which were designed to punish vagrants by making them harvest crop for a plantation owner, were passed.

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

For instance, we can look at the forms of oppression slaves had to endure. When the importation of slaves to the United States seized after 1807, plantation owners saw the opportunity to rather protect the “limited” quantity of slaves by not beating or killing them. As precious as they were to the economy, owners couldn’t take any risks. Slaves were therefore provided with shelter in cabins, more clothing, and a better diet. The better diet was in opposition to the meals they lacked during the voyage on slave ships and working in the fields.