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History of science and technologies
Technology past and
Cotton gins impact on history
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Technology has always ruled every aspect in history everything from war to farming. Technology has pushed every aspect of human life to be better. One huge invention that changed how the U.S was looked at in the world was the cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney. Whitney applied for a patent on October 28, 1793; the patent was granted on March 14, 1794, but was not validated until 1807. So what is the cotton gin its a machine that separates cotton fibers from their seeds the reason this was so important was compared to humans doing this task it was a lot faster then any human could do. That means more cotton being produced and faster which means more money and trade availability which was very needed in the begging of the United States.
The cotton that was being made turned into many things, the fibers are processed into goods such as linens, and any undamaged cotton was used for clothes. Seeds would be used to grow more cotton or to produce cottonseed oil. It was also used for bedding and packing material. It was shredded and used as insulation, and a huge
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Also it didn’t work out for Whitney because the cotton gin was pirated and plantation owners constructed their own machines–many of them an improvement over Whitney’s original model.
Before the Cotton gin cotton wasn’t the cash crop of the south it was tobacco and indigo. The reason cotton wasn’t was because it took so long for people to take out the seeds so once the cotton gin was invented business started booming for the southern farmers. The problem with having tobacco as your cash crop is it takes out so many nutrients that you would have to give the land a break every seven years, but with cotton it was so easy to grow that it made everything much better once production was sped
The predominantly agrarian South had few forms of liquid wealth; slaves and land comprised the majority of southern capital. The cultivation of cotton and the profits made by its sales was paramount to the economy and so with the loss of northern buyers, the Confederate’s economic status was destined for failure.
Before the American civil war, the Southerner’s economy had almost entirely been constructed on slave and cash crop agriculture. The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney. The cotton gin was a contraption that transmogrified the fabrication of cotton by significantly making the task of removing seeds from the cotton fiber faster. The invention benefitted the slaves because it saved the slaves
“The contrast in the relative prominence of slavery between the Upper South and the Lower South reflects the adverse health conditions and arduous labor requirements of lowland rice cultivation, whereas tobacco farming continued to be attractive to free family farmers as well as to slave owners”(Engerman, Sutch, & Wright, 2004). The lower South depended on their slaves more than the Upper because they were in the process of cropping tobacco. The Upper South had to keep up with the lower south, because they had to focus on their slave trade that would build and expand their plantations. During this era, the diverse between these two regions were more concerned with the values of slaves. The values of slave price can increase because of high demands between the upper and the lower South. As the upper South was coming up short, the slave profession took off. The slave profession helped the Upper South, yet there were numerous deformities. The slave percentage was at the end of its usefulness of significance “in the Upper South” significance it had a weaker understanding of community reliability than in the cotton areas. This made the upper south separate on what the future may hold. It was not clear on whether if the future was based on the Deep South’s financial growth between the North and the
Eli Whitney's machine could produce up to 23 kg (50 lb) of cleaned cotton daily, making southern cotton a profitable crop for the first time. Unfortunately Whitney failed to profit from his invention; imitations of his machine appeared, and his 1794 invention was not upheld until 1807.
In the South, however, the economy was predominantly agricultural. Cotton and tobacco plantations relied heavily on the free labor of slaves for their economic prosperity. They saw the urbanization and industrialization of the North, and the economic connection between the North a...
Prior to the cotton gin, a laborer could only pick the seeds out of approximately one pound of cotton a day. The cotton gin made it possible to clean up to 50 pounds per day. The farmers could now plant as much cotton as they wanted and not have the worry about the difficulties of seed removal. Eli’s invention spurred the growth of the cotton industry, and the South took up the slogan “Cotton is King.”
America’s economies and regions were becoming more connected than ever, which also contributed to a resulting better economy. However, the dependence on agriculture and slavery in the South resulted in further sectionalism and isolating ties to England. Though the connection between the Midwest and the North was strong due to numerous railroads, canals, and paved roads, the South was not as included in the new Market Revolution that was taking place. In addition to this, the South barely traded with any of the other regions. In fact, the South exported most of its cotton to England, and imported foreign goods more than any other region. Only connected to England, the South cut off a substantial amount of ties with its American sister regions. Slavery also contributed to the economy of the South. The only region that relied on slaves, the South was the minority when it came to favoring the peculiar institution. The invention of Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin revived the need for slavery in the South which made the picking and production of cotton faster and more profitable that it was before. In the South, “Cotton was King,” and because of this, the
With the South’s money, they would acquire cotton from the southern states. Also, in the South, there were little job opportunities for whites since slaves had the jobs in the field, unlike the North where jobs were abundant in factories for the unskilled workers. Many of these unskilled workers were immigrants from Ireland and Germany.... ... middle of paper ...
Within the economy a great development had been achieved when the upper south handed its power to the lower south all due to the rise of an agricultural production. This expansion was led by the excessive growth of cotton in the southern areas. It spread rapidly throughout America and especially in the South. During these times it gave another reason to keep the slavery at its all time high. Many wealthy planters started a ‘business’ by having their slaves work the cotton plantations, which this was one of a few ways slavery was still in full effect. Not only were there wealthy planters, at this time even if you were a small slave-holder you were still making money. While all of this had been put into the works, Americans had approximately 410,000 slaves move from the upper south to the ‘cotton states’. This in turn created a sale of slaves in the economy to boom throughout the Southwest. If there is a question as to ‘why’, then lets break it d...
Geographically, North and South were very different places. The pastures of New England were similar to those found in England, suitable for a variety of uses. Hot Southern prairie lands were perfect for cotton growing, a lucrative business at this time. Following the invention of Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin, the South became increasingly dependent on this crop, and an entire society grew out of it. The society was one of wealthy planters, who led a life similar to the landed gentry of England, controlling politics and society of the day. In the fields laboured Negro slaves, usually only a handful per plantation, though larger farms were occasionally seen. In addition, there lived poor whites, tenant farmers or smallholders, who eked out a living from the land. This contrasted sharply with Northern society, where industrialisation flourished, creating wealthy entrepreneurs and employing cheap immigrant labour. Given the localised nature of media, and difficulties of transport two cultures grew up in the same nation, remarkably different and often suspicious of one another.
Slavery had a big impact on the market, but most of it was centered on the main slave crop, cotton. Primarily, the south regulated the cotton distribution because it was the main source of income in the south and conditions were nearly perfect for growing it. Cheap slave labor made it that much more profitable and it grew quickly as well. Since the development in textile industry in the north and in Britain, cotton became high in demand all over the world. The south at one point, was responsible for producing “eighty percent of the world’s cotton”. Even though the South had a “labor force of eighty-four percent working, it only produced nine percent of the nations manufactured goods”, (Davidson 246). This statistic shows that the South had an complete advantage in manpower since slavery wasn’t prohibited. In the rural South, it was easy for plantation owners to hire slaves to gather cotton be...
Secondly, the demand for cotton grew tremendously as cotton became an important raw material for the then developing cotton industries in the North and Britain. The growing of cotton revived the Southern economy and the plantations spread across the south, and by 1850 the southern U.S produced more than 80% of cotton all over the world. As this cotton based economy of the south grew so did the slave labor to work in these large scale plantations since they were more labor-intensive...
The Northern economy was based on many different industries, such as shipping, textiles, lumber, fur and mining. (Mr. Kash). Most people in the north lived on small farms to raise livestock and food to eat. Manufacturing quickly developed with water power and coal from steam plants. The north favored high tariffs to protect its industries from foreign competition. The Southern economy focused on agriculture so towns and cities slowly grew and took form. Cash Crops such as cotton, indigo, tobacco, rice and sugarcane were grown on plantations. The invention of the cotton gin allowed cotton to take over southern economy. The cotton industry developed rapidly and spread all over the south. This industry was so big that cotton exports made ⅔’s american exports. ( Civil War Trust). Slavery was essential for prosperity of southern economy. The south had little manufacturing and hated high tariffs because high tariffs would make overseas buyers not want to buy their stuff and make them increase their tariffs making it more expensive for the south to
With the economic system, the south had a very hard time producing their main source “cotton and tobacco”. “Cotton became commercially significant in the 1790’s after the invention of a new cotton gin by Eli Whitney. (PG 314)” Let alone, if they had a hard time producing goods, the gains would be extremely unprofitable. While in the North, “In 1837, John Deere patented a strong, smooth steel plow that sliced through prairie soil so cleanly that farmers called it the “singing plow.” (PG 281).” Deere’s company became the leading source to saving time and energy for farming as it breaks much more ground to plant more crops. As well as mechanical reapers, which then could harvest twelve acres a day can double the corn and wheat. The North was becoming more advanced by the second. Many moved in the cities where they would work in factories, which contributed to the nation’s economic growth because factory workers actually produced twice as much of labor as agricultural workers. Steam engines would be a source of energy and while coal was cutting prices in half actually created more factories, railroads for transportation, and ships which also gave a rise in agricultural productivity.
In the beginning of the 1800s, economic diversities between the two different regions had also grown. By the year 1860, cotton was the chief crop for the South; it also represented fifty-seven percent of all American exports. The prosperity of cotton fulfilled the South's reliance on the plantation system and its crucial elementslavery.