Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin

In 1794, Eli Whitney invented a simple machine called the cotton gin. The main purpose of this machine was to automatically separate the cotton fibers from the seeds. Similar machines already existed for long-staple cotton, but they did not work with short-staple cotton. The basic concept was the same, using brushes to separate the two parts of the cotton. Whitney’s design, however, used spiked teeth to pull the fibers from the seed more effectively than previous machines.
Whitney’s cotton gin only contained a few parts. The whole machine was set in a wooden box. Inside the box, there was an inclined shelf with slits big enough for the seeds to fall through. That is where you placed the un-processed cotton. Connected to the box, there was a wooden cylinder with metal spiked teeth that pulled the fibers from the cotton bolls. This cylinder pulled the cotton through a small slit in a metal breastplate. The slits were too small for the seeds to pass through, so the seeds fell through the slits in the shelf where the cotton was placed. Once the cotton fibers were pulled through the metal
Before this invention, cotton was a declining cash crop because it was not as profitable as other cash crops. However, it was vital to the industry of the United States, so the southern economy suffered. After this machine was invented, cotton became very profitable and the southern economy boomed. Prior to this invention, factory workers could only process about a pound of cotton per day. After the invention, the factory workers could process fifty pounds of cotton in a single day. In 1791, cotton production in the United States was about two-million pounds per year. In 1860, that number was up to one billion. That is a dramatic increase, all due to Whitney’s cotton gin. Since farmers could produce so much cotton, this paved the way for the south’s cotton trade, which also had a major impact on the