...A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, allowing for much greater productivity than manual cotton separation. The fibers are processed into clothing or other cotton goods, and any undamaged cotton was used for clothes. Seeds may be used to grow more cotton or to produce cottonseed oil and meal. Cotton fibers are produced in the seedpods of the cotton plant where the fibers in the bolls are tightly interwoven with seeds. To make the fibers usable, the seeds and fibers must first be separated, a task, which had been previously performed manually, with production of cotton requiring hundreds of hours of labor for the separation. Many simple seed-removing devices had been invented, but until the innovation of the cotton gin, most required significant operator attention and worked only on a small scale....
Words: 835 - Pages: 4
...were many inventions that helped in making everyday tasks that they were performing daily much easier thus opening the door for more advancement in farming and in the medical field. Farming There were many inventions that impacted the work load of farming, one of which was the steel plow. The steel plow was invented by a blacksmith named John Deere. Farmers were not able to use the old style plow which was made of cast iron and was used more commonly in the eastern states. John Deere decided to make steel plows because the cast iron plows would easily break due to the soil being rich and thick in the Great Plains. Farmers were now spending more time harvesting land instead of fixing the cast iron plows. The steel plow had a wooden handle and was attached to a horse. The plow would dig the soil and turn it over in preparation for planting crops (Burns, 2012). Farming consists of extremely difficult and tedious labor. One example of this involves picking cotton seeds out of cotton. Laborers would spend a whole day picking seeds out of cotton plant and only produce around one pound of cotton per day. That all changed in 1793, when Eli Whitney built the first cotton gin machine. The machine was made up of rows of close set...
Words: 1677 - Pages: 7
... This is all shown in the painting “Southern Cotton Plantation 1850s”. However the North had it almost the completely opposite; The North held a colder climate with Rocky land and many hills that made it hard to grow their own crops. The North was also coastal based. They had fast, deep rivers that were hard to navigate. As seen in (Doc. 2 Pic. 1) These major differences affected the population of each part of the US. The South had a total population of 7.5 million The people of the South were mostly farmers and workers living an agrarian lifestyle. All the farming in the South caused the major need for slaves, by 1850 half of the population of the South held slaves. However the North, stood as an urban lifestyle with tons of factories and lots of industry. These factories needed many workers, causing masses of people to come to the North from places like rural New England, looking for employment. At the start of the Civil War the population was 22.5 million. The South, an agrarian community, was filled with cotton plantations and other crop farms. All of the crops and the farms caused a major need for more slaves. The slaves were in charge of tending the cotton, and picking it for their owners. However in 1793 something changed. 1793 was the year that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. The invention of the cotton Gin majorly raised the production rate, from 10,000 bales to above 1,000,000! Despite the newly invented cotton gin, there was still a major need for slaves in the...
Words: 835 - Pages: 4
...Nat Turner's Rebellion Nat Turner's Rebellion was when a group of slaves led by Nathaniel Turner. This happened at Southampton County, Virginia on August 21-23, 1831. The slaves killed around 60 white men, women and children. Nathaniel was an educated minister and a slave, seven of his followers joined the slaves. The slaves were armed with hatchets and knives. During the aftermath of the rebellion more than fifty slaves were sentenced to death by twenty judges (who all owned slaves). The rebellion was bad because after he was caught and hanged slaveholders became more scared of slaves and became more strict with the rules made for slaves. Cotton Gin The cotton gin was a very important machine invented by Eli Whitney in 1993. Eli asked for a patent on October 28, 1793 and got a patent on March 14, 1794. The cotton gin was used to separate cotton from its seeds it was a revolutionary invention. The bad thing about the cotton gin was that it increased the amount of slaves tremendously. It was a simple yet very effective machine. This was a terrible thing for slaves because it gave them even more work to do. Trail of Tears...
Words: 506 - Pages: 3
...During the early 1800s the United States grew and changed. Many of the changes were the result of new inventions. These inventions changed the way people lived, worked and traveled. Let’s investigate the effect these inventions had on the lives of Americans. One important invention was a machine called the cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney. During the early 1800s, southern planters were desperate to make the growing of cotton profitable. The production of cotton was slow work because the sticky green seeds of the cotton plant had to be removed by hand. The cotton gin increased the production of cotton because it quickly removed the seeds from the cotton plant. Cotton soon became the most important crop in the South, and by 1845 the...
Words: 370 - Pages: 2
...Democratic and Republican politicians not getting along. With all the conflicts going on and The North and The South hating each other the division was quite expected. Economics affected the division greatly. Economics means anything relating to the trade, industry, and creation of wealth of a country, state, or region. The North depended on factories to make common goods. The South depended on slaves to pick cotton for them and they would sell the cotton to...
Words: 1028 - Pages: 5
...University US History 9 March 2016 Slavery Timeline 1712 – Slave Codes 1775 – Dunmore’s Proclamation 1794 – Invention of the cotton gin 1820 – Compromise of 1820 1846-1848 – Mexican American war Slave codes were laws that were put into play by the colonies to restrict the slaves’ behaviors. The White settlers were afraid that since the number of African Americans was increasing, there was a greater chance for a violent rebellion to occur (Ushistoryorg, 2016). These laws impacted the slaves immensely. For example, these laws made it so that slaves were not allowed to own their own property since they were considered property themselves, they were not allowed to assemble without the presence of a white person, it was illegal to tach a slave to read or write, and slaves that lived off the plantation were restricted to certain curfews (Ushistoryorg, 2016). Also, if an African American was accused of a crime against a white person, they were automatically considered guilty (Ushistoryorg, 2016). Slaves were not allowed to give their testimonies or even appear in court. Slaves could not legally get married, which made it easier for their owner to separate them and sell them to another owner (Ushistoryorg, 2016). In November of 1775, John Murray, Virginia’s Royal Governor, issued the Dunmore proclamation which offered freedom to slaves who agreed to fight for the British. Murray expected the slaves to be motivated by the ability to take revenge on slave owners, but instead...
Words: 1024 - Pages: 5
...The Civil War was known as the “crossroads of our being”. This event has helped us define who we are as a nation. During the Gettysburg Address of 1860, Lincoln said that this war was “a new birth of freedom” but, would the Civil War really be the new birth of freedom? As our nation expanded from 1787 to 1861, there were a lot of different economic, political, and cultural problems that occurred. The northern, southern, and western states all had disagreements and different opinions over these topics, this would soon lead to the decision of the southern states to secede from the union, because they had a different perspective for a better way of life. Economy for the north and south is defined has how one of the regions is involved with the...
Words: 1050 - Pages: 5
...Since the beginning of time labor has been evolving. From slavery in the new world, to farmers on the railroads, to women and children in factories; who knows where we will get our labor from next. But for now all we can do is look into the past in order to try and figure out what worked and what didn't work and in order to do that we have to start at the beginning. Slavery was the main source of labor in the middle and late 1800s. Slaves were forced onto ships that transported them through the Middle Passage to America. Once they were in America they were forced to work in fields pulling cotton and other abundant cash crops. They received absolutely no pay for all of this labor. At the time African Americans were seen as less then human, because...
Words: 472 - Pages: 2
...The South provided ¾’s of the world’s supply of cotton in the years leading to the American Civil War. Cotton was a very crucial resource for the industrial revolution. The demand for cotton made trading a lot more known. The plantation was where cotton came from, which was business of worldwide significance. The cotton boom made thousands of plantation owners and planters rich. The South’s commitment to plantation agriculture stopped many other areas of its economy. Plantation agriculture led to a lot of wealth among whites. Without regional markets, little urbanization or industrialization would have been present in the South. Plantations usually sent goods to markets by the river system. Smaller farmers preferred to use roads and canals to stick with their low taxes. Big farms were way more profitable than small ones. Therefore the more successful the planters, the more slaves and good land they were...
Words: 683 - Pages: 3
...leaving his estate two days later. He made his way to New York City to take the oath of office. This is important because being Washington being the first president modeled how future presidents should act. He was a wise and strong willed leader, showing that in the war, he was the leader that the people not only wanted but also needed. George Washington was a big part of creating the foundation for our democracy today. -Aaron (The Americans Textbook Pg.182) 1793- Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin. On April 14th, a man named Eli Whitney invented a machine, the machine the automated the separation between cottonseed from cotton fiber. The Cotton Gin allowed farmers to quickly get the seeds out of the picked cotton and increased Cotton produce into a highly profitable enterprise. Despite the succession of the Cotton Gin, Whitney lost fortune defending legal battles and became broke and was forced to close his shop. This event was important due to the farmers taking longer to produce cotton, so cotton was very limited. -Alex (http://www.sussexvt.k12.de.us/science/The%20History%20of%20the%20World%201500-1899/Eli%20Whitney%20Invents%20the%20Cotton%20Gin.htm) 1803- Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 is arguably the most important purchase in U.S history. Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States was worried he would have to alliance with Britain after the French regained the Louisiana Territory from Spain due to the new strong French presence. The original...
Words: 1463 - Pages: 6
...The Interchangeable Man: Eli Whitney One major goal in life is to have a purpose, to achieve a sense of accomplishment. Many people fulfill this by striving to be an inventor, someone who creates. An inventor must have a brilliant mind, a passion to create, and must be in the right place at the right time in order to be successful. Eli Whitney’s youth, education, early inventions, and mass production achievements contributed to his place as a great inventor. The early life of a person can of predict their future, and Eli Whitney’s youth certainly does. He grew up on his family’s farm in Massachusetts, where inspiration for innovation surrounded him. Whitney spent time working for a blacksmith. During this time he designed and developed a nail forge based on the demand caused by British Embargoes. “Young Eli quickly learned how the marketplace worked, and diversified into hatpins and canes. It was his genius to observe what people needed, and to provide it” (PBS), even from an early age Whitney was able to innovate to make peoples lives easier. As a young man he found himself intertwined with a small niche such as ladies hatpins. This learned ability to create and innovate would prove to help Eli Whitney become a successful inventor. Despite being a blacksmith in his early years, Whitney sought out education at Yale College. His parents objected to his decision since he was not interested in studying law and theology. Whitney left home at the age of twenty-three and graduated...
Words: 1056 - Pages: 5
...This introduction gives you a preview of the authors’ answers to certain key questions about the causes and consequences of the nation’s “awesome trial by fire,” the Civil War. Look at this section and list three major questions you think the authors will be addressing in the next seven chapters. (1) (2) (3) 2. Southern Economy and Social Structure a. Explain the connection between the invention of the cotton gin by Eli _________ in 17___ and the rapid expansion of short-staple cotton production based on slave labor in the South. If the cotton gin actually made picking seeds from cotton much easier, why did planters perceive a vastly increased need for slave labor? b. Cotton was king in both the South and in Britain. By 1840, cotton amounted to _____percent of U. S. exports and accounted for more than _____percent of the world’s supply. Britain’s economy was based on cotton textiles, and Britain got _____percent of its fiber supply from the South. (No wonder Southerners thought England would “be tied to them by cotton threads” in the event of conflict with the North.) c. List two negatives of this Southern plantation economy mentioned by the authors. (1) (2) d. Although most slaves were owned by the large-scale planters, most slave-owners held only a few slaves each, and often worked together with them in the fields. The chart on p. 353 shows that, out of about 345,000 slave-owning families, only about ________...
Words: 1591 - Pages: 7
...Timeline Part II Major Event/Epoch in American History | Time Period/Date(s) | Description and Significance of the People/Event(s) to American History | 1) The evolution of the institution of slavery from the Colonial Period to the 1860s. | 1860-1865 | To the southern colonist, slavery became profitable after the cotton gin was invented. The cotton gin helped produce a large cash flow along with manual labor jobs. Prior to the cotton gin slave trade was done most by the New England colonies, this was called “Triangle Trade”. (www.civilwarhome.com) | 2) The socio-cultural impact of the abolitionist movement including: a) The effect of Uncle Tom’s Cabin b) The Kansas-Nebraska Act c) The Compromise of 1850 d) The Underground Railroad | 1800-1870 | In the middle colonies the abolitionism began early. Most people in Pennsylvania were against slavery due to a moral stand, while the upper and middle colonies did not contribute to the slave market. While on the other hand in the south the use of slaves continued to thrive for labor plantations as well as creating a group in which the poorest of whites could turn their noses up at. A small group of religious and moral causes began the Abolition Movement. Nevertheless they took to the north as a political group with federal powers. In the 1800’s efforts were curved too avoid the issues of slavery altogether such as Henry Clay’s compromises attempting to delay conflict, which quickly deteriorated after his...
Words: 895 - Pages: 4
...because they were moving in completely different directions with culture, political views, and economies. As a consequence of poor farming conditions and a mass amount of immigrants coming into America, the Northern states developed into an economy based on industry and manufacturing. The North was mountainous with rocky soil and rapid rivers. It had long cold winters and mild summers which were not suitable for cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, sugar, rice, etc. They had to focus heavily on industrialization due to the resources they had available to them, such as iron and coal that was abundant. Using these resources as an energy source, the North constructed factories that produced textiles, furniture, tools, etc. Since factories were producing a mass amount of goods in a short amount of time, they exported their goods to the West and South. Trade was easier in the North, due to the amount of canals and railroads that connected major cities and towns to one another. To keep these factories running, they needed unskilled workers who would monitor the machines, work for low wages and lengthy hours in hazardous conditions. Many of these factories used woman and child labor, and unlike the South slavery was outlawed. Because of this many labor unions went into effect that fought for worker's wages and working conditions. Thousands of immigrants coming from Ireland, Germany, and England came...
Words: 1161 - Pages: 5
