EQ: How does Eli Whitney’s cotton gin lead to the Civil War?

Cotton: White Gold of Georgia: Today and Yesterday

Cotton was a profitable crop but was not grown on a large scale because of the slow and difficult process of removing seeds from cotton bolls in order to produce a usable fiber

Invention of cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 changed this situation Gin could easily and quickly remove

seeds Caused a fantastic explosion in

southern cotton production 3000 bales in 1790 178,000 bales in 1810 732,000 bales in 1830 4.5 million bales in 1860

South became the world’s leading producer of cotton by 1842 Produced 2/3s world output and 65% of all

American exports Cotton mills in north depended on southern cotton Prosperity in South caused by cotton made it a

major market for northern manufactured products Cotton was an important part of American

prosperity and economic well-being In 1860, 25% of all Southerners owned slaves. Of that 25%

52% owned 1-5 slaves 35% owned 6-9 slaves 11% owned 20-99 slaves 1 % owned 100 or more slaves

Those who owned 20 or more slaves - about 3% of the entire white population - controlled the social, political, and economic power of the South.

http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/story/king_cotton_and_the_cotton_gin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAUQNMldp_Y&feature=related

Cotton in the fields

Pictures of Cotton: The plant

Bales are ready for ginning and finally: Jeans, clothes, etc.

Collecting of cotton to be ginned

Ginning: The 2nd picture you can see the seeds at the bottom

The seeds after ginning process

Cotton: the final version

MODERN COTTON GIN

PICKING COTTON

A Modern Cotton Gin.

1. How does the cotton gin work?

2. What products are made from cotton?

3. How do you think this cotton gin affects the slaves?

4. How do you think this cotton gin helps the plantation owners?

5. What would happen if this would never have been developed? 

How would it have changed life then and now? 6. How did Whitney’s cotton gin lead to the Civil War?