What effects did the cotton gin have on the southern economy?
Section 1: Growth of the Cotton Industry
If YOU were there...
You are a field-worker on a cotton farm in the South in 1800. Your job is to separate the seeds from the cotton fibers. It is boring, tiring work because the tiny seeds are tangled in the fibers. Sometimes it takes you a whole day just to clean one pound of cotton! Now you hear that someone has invented a machine that can clean cotton 50 times faster than by hand.
How might this machine change
your life?
You are a field-worker on a cotton farm in the South in 1800. Your job is to separate the seeds from the cotton fibers. It is boring, tiring work because the tiny seeds are tangled in the fibers. Sometimes it takes you a whole day just to clean one pound of cotton! Now you hear that someone has invented a machine that can clean cotton 50 times faster than by hand.
How might this machine change
your life?
Building Background: There were differences between regions of the United States. The revolutionary changes in industry and transportation made more differences between the North and the South regions. The South remained mainly agricultural. New technology helped the South become the Cotton Kingdom.
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Reviving the South's Economy
Before the American Revolution, the three main crops grown in the south were tobacco, rice, and indigo (a plant that produces a blue dye). These crops were planted and picked by enslaved African Americans. They became very important to southern economy and culture.
After the American Revolution, however, prices for tobacco, rice, and indigo dropped. When crop prices fell, the demand for and the price of slaves also went down. Many farmers tried to grow other crops that needed less work because they were trying to earn enough money. They were not successful. Soon, cotton would transform the southern economy and greatly increase the demand for slave labor.
After the American Revolution, however, prices for tobacco, rice, and indigo dropped. When crop prices fell, the demand for and the price of slaves also went down. Many farmers tried to grow other crops that needed less work because they were trying to earn enough money. They were not successful. Soon, cotton would transform the southern economy and greatly increase the demand for slave labor.
Cotton Becomes Profitable
Cotton had been grown in the New World for centuries, but it had not been a very profitable crop. The seeds had to be removed from the cotton fibers and then the cotton had to be spun into thread for weaving into cloth.
Long-staple cotton, also called black-seed cotton, was an easy process because workers could pick the seeds from the cotton easily. But long-staple cotton grew well in only a few places in the South. Short-staple cotton, also known as green-seed cotton, was more common. Removing the seeds from this cotton was difficult and took more time. A worker could spend an entire day picking the seeds from a single pound of short-staple cotton.
By the early 1790s the demand for American cotton began to increase rapidly. For example, in Great Britain, new textile (clothing) factories needed raw cotton that could be used for making cloth, and American cotton producers could not keep up with the high demand for their cotton. These producers of cotton needed a machine that could remove the seeds from cotton more rapidly.
Long-staple cotton, also called black-seed cotton, was an easy process because workers could pick the seeds from the cotton easily. But long-staple cotton grew well in only a few places in the South. Short-staple cotton, also known as green-seed cotton, was more common. Removing the seeds from this cotton was difficult and took more time. A worker could spend an entire day picking the seeds from a single pound of short-staple cotton.
By the early 1790s the demand for American cotton began to increase rapidly. For example, in Great Britain, new textile (clothing) factories needed raw cotton that could be used for making cloth, and American cotton producers could not keep up with the high demand for their cotton. These producers of cotton needed a machine that could remove the seeds from cotton more rapidly.
Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin
Northerner Eli Whitney finally patented a machine in 1793. The year before, Whitney had visited a Georgia plantation (large farm). The owner was Catherine Greene and her workers were using a machine that removed seeds from long-staple cotton. This machine did not work well on short-staple cotton, and Greene asked Whitney if he could improve it. By the next spring, Whitney had perfected his design for the cotton gin, a machine that removes seeds from short-staple cotton. (“Gin” is short for engine.) The cotton gin used a hand cranked cylinder with wire teeth to pull cotton fibers from the seeds.
Whitney hoped to keep the design of the gin a secret, but the machine was so useful that other people stole his idea. Whitney described how his invention would improve the cotton business. He said that the cotton gin would clean more cotton faster and easier than 50 men!
Whitney’s gin revolutionized the cotton business. Planters - large scale farmers who owned more than 20 slaves - built cotton gins that could clean tons of cotton much faster than hand cleaning. A planter could make a large amount of money off their cotton crop because the textile (clothing) businesses needed so much cotton.
Whitney hoped to keep the design of the gin a secret, but the machine was so useful that other people stole his idea. Whitney described how his invention would improve the cotton business. He said that the cotton gin would clean more cotton faster and easier than 50 men!
Whitney’s gin revolutionized the cotton business. Planters - large scale farmers who owned more than 20 slaves - built cotton gins that could clean tons of cotton much faster than hand cleaning. A planter could make a large amount of money off their cotton crop because the textile (clothing) businesses needed so much cotton.
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The Cotton Boom Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin made cotton so profitable that southern farmers chose to only plant cotton, rather than other crops. The removal of Native Americans opened up more land to plant the cotton. Plantations grew and spread across the southern states. This area of high cotton production became known as the cotton belt.
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Cotton production increased from 2 million pounds in 1791 to a billion pounds by 1860. The southern plantations were responsible for producing cotton for the entire world. New settlers came to the United States to earn money through farming, white southerners became very wealthy, cotton trade increased, and slavery became common in the South.
Summary and Preview: You have read about how southern farmers worked to improve farming methods. In the next section you will read about southern society.