Cotton Gin

The Cotton Gin was invented by Eli Whitney. The Cotton Gin was invented to help speed the removal of seeds from the cotton. Removing the seeds was very hard work, the seeds in cotton are very small and hard to grasp and remove. The Cotton Gin multiplied the amount of cotton that could be cleaned. In America, cotton production skyrocketed from 1.5 million ponds to 85 million pounds. This invention changed the world. Because of the cotton gin, slaves now labored on ever-larger plantations where work was more regimented and relentless. As large plantations spread into the Southwest, the price of slaves and land inhibited the growth of cities and industries. In the 1850s seven-eighths of all immigrants settled in the North, where they found 72% of the nation's manufacturing capacity.