Bashore 1

Madeline Bashore
Professor Jonathan Hebertson
History 1700
16 December 2015
The Cotton Gin

Before the invention of the cotton Gin, cotton fibers had to be removed from their seeds
manually. This process would often take hundreds of hours and made slaves very valuable to
southern plantation owners. Producing cotton became a highly successful profession in America
in the 1700s and created a booming economy. People who came to the Americas came in search
of land and wealth and found it in the Cotton Industry.
Early versions of the cotton Gin had been existent as early as 500 AD in Western India.
This version consisted of a
single roller made of iron or
wood, and a flat slab of stone
or wood where the cotton
would then continue to be
separated. Evidence of the use
of this same type of Cotton
Gin has been found in Africa, Asia, and North America. Because the tools used in separating
cotton look alike to the tools people in history would have used for other uses, it is unclear
whether there could have been more cultures and places that could have used this same type of
cotton gin. A design similar to this version was called a metate, and was used in the grinding of
grains.

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In order to be able to grow cotton, the climate must have moderate rainfall, long periods
of time without frost, heavy soil, and plenty of sunshine. This is why the production of cotton
became such a large scale success in the southern states. People who immigrated to the South
were able to take enough land in hope of becoming a successful farmer or plantation owner.
Cotton is not a difficult plant to grow, but does require a lot of manual labor during the growing,
harvesting, and processing stages. Slaves were often on plantations to ensure higher success rates
of crops.
In the 12th and 14th centuries more advanced gins came into place in places like China
and India. This Advanced technology used two rollers instead of one. The Indian version
prevailed to become one of the most successful trades throughout the Mediterranean Cotton trade
by the early 16th century.
In 1793 Eli Whitney Invented the modern mechanical Cotton Gin which was patented
March 17, 1794, but was not validated till years later in 1807. His design was capable of clearing
around 50 pounds of cotton per day, making this invention much more productive and efficient
than using slaves alone had been in previous years. However, Whitney was never able to make
much money with his invention due to his inability to mass produce the product, and lack of
patent validation to prevent others from recreating his idea.
Born to a farmer in 1765 in Westborough Massachusetts, Whitney had grown up around
farming and was well educated with the tools it uses. After the tragic death of his mother, when
he was 11 years old, he began to operate a successful and very profitable nail manufacturing
operation in his father's workshop during the Revolutionary War to help support his family. He
had dreams of going to college, which were dismissed by his step mother forcing him to stay and
work on the farm and school to make a living to put himself through school. He originally

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planned on attending Yale for Law school, and did for a short time, until his funding ran low. He
then traveled to a plantation in Georgia and met a man who would soon become his business
partner. Here Whitney invented the current model of the cotton Gin. He stated, One of my
primary objects is to form the tools so the tools themselves shall fashion the work and give to
every part its just proportion (Whitney).
Eli Whitneys model consisted of a wooden cylinder encasing spikes which was used to
pull cotton and seed through in a comb like manner. Loose cotton would be brushed off and
seeds would begin to be separated to prevent the machine from clogging as the cotton would pass
through the cylinder. Having grown up and worked on a farm throughout his life Whitney was
well qualified to create this invention that helped the southern economy increase, and make
cotton a more profitable crop.

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Whitney and his business partner Miller did not anticipate on selling the cotton gin to any
other farmers, however they intended to charge other farmers for the cleaning of their cotton to
decrease the labor other farmers would have to have done. Unfortunately, this fell through and
Whitney tried his hand at selling the cotton gin. He was unable to keep up with the demand of
other farmers and lost business to other
people who came up with other versions
of the cotton gin. There were multiple
drawbacks to Whitney's first design
which were solved by Catherine
Littlefield Greene, the wife of one of his
business partners. Whitney gave her no
recognition in the process of creating a
more efficient cotton gin. He made little
money on the cotton gin, however his
invention did give him fame. He came up with many inventions, but none received as much
attention or success as the cotton gin.
A man named Daniel Pete stated, "For a century and a half cotton farming dominated the
southern United States. Indeed, the invention of the cotton gin [in 1793] followed by only four
years the establishment of the government. . . The cotton gin was such a simple machine that it
was endlessly replicated in each settlement as cotton marched west from county to county"
(Pete). Shows how great of an impact the cotton gin had on the southern economy and the
development of America. As one of the first main successful plantations and exports of America,
cotton farmers experienced great success and achievements during this time period. American

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cotton became a desirable export of America for other countries. People found many uses for
cotton. One of the main things cotton was used for was yarn making, the cotton was spun into
yarn which could then be used in the production of blankets, clothing, and rope. Cotton also
allowed other Industries to flourish with the production of other products made from cotton.
The invention of the cotton gin encouraged the use of cotton. It lowered the cost of
production allowing farmers to be able to afford to grow more, and it allowed the prices of cotton
to go down so many people could be able to purchase and use this textile. This lead to its current
widespread use and availability even today.
The production of cotton not only affected the economy of the South, but the North, also.
The North was able to make and invent many new products with increasing availability of
cotton. They were able to create and export these new products allowing the country as a whole
to benefit from the cotton plantations. Although the North disapproved of slavery, they were
supported and involved with it. They may have not been directly involved, but by supporting the
plantations and purchasing the products such as cotton sold from plantations they were
benefiting from slavery just as much as the south.
With cotton farms booming, slavery increased in southern states. Slaves were brought in
to the South whether legally or illegally to work on large scale cotton plantations. The work on
cotton plantations was often dangerous and was no easy task. Slaves were mistreated on
plantations and were treated as objects and property. Many slaves tried to escape cotton
plantations and many succeeded, however those who were caught and failed escaping were often
brutally punished. The brutality of the plantation owner was not the only thing the saves needed
to worry about. Things such as disease, unsafe working conditions, and scarcity of food were
faced by slaves daily. The working conditions on plantations were astonishing. Dangerous

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machines were operated where slaves would often get injured. Alexander Herzen stated, Slavery
is the first step towards civilization. In order to develop, it is necessary that things should be
much better for some and much worse for others, then those who are better off can develop at the
expense of others (Herzen).
At a time when people in the country wanted to abolish slavery the South became
outraged. Slaves were no longer able to be brought in from other counties, so the only legal
circulation of slaves was within the southern states of America. Slaves were still smuggled in
illegally, however the slave trade was struggling to continue. Plantation and slave owners wanted
to start a war claiming that they could not have their property [slaves] taken away. The North
supported anti-slavery causing contention with the south. It was once stated that the United
States as a whole was supported on slavery alone. Without slavery the plantations could have
been nowhere near as successful as they were and the North would never have had the materials
they needed to be able to export enough goods to sustain a stable economy. America in some
ways was built by slavery, and the cotton plantations contributed not only to slavery, but to
building an economy stable enough to support a country.

The cotton gin made very valuable contributions to the time period and has been helping
people produce cotton ever since. Although the current model used in society today is a bit

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different than what was used in the past, the idea still contributes to the production of cotton.
Since this time slavery has been illegalized and cotton plantations have had to find other ways to
keep their plantations running.

Works Cited
Herzen, Alexander. Alexander Herzen Quotes. BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2015. Web. 16
December 2015.
Pete, Daniel. Cotton South Quotations . Berkely.edu. 1985. Web. 16 December 2015.
Whitney, Eli. Eli Whitney Quote. IZQuotes. 2015. Web. 10 December 2015.