A world without cotton is unimaginable, our dependence to cotton made commodities has become part of our existence. Usable textile, a final product of an extensive process involving delicate growth and cultivation of the raw cotton plant, harvesting, and systematic processing dates back ancient times. Discoveries of early civilizations utilizing this plant were traced from as early as 3000 BCE. Moreover, Cotton has always been a significant focus in western civilization as it became more evident in 1793 when Eli Whitney patented his Cotton gin. Cotton gin which is a device that extracts and separates fiber from its seed were tremendously useful in cotton processing. Revenues dramatically increased for plantation owners, turning cotton …show more content…
In the Americas, some of the oldest cotton bolls were found in Mexico dating approximately 5500 BCE. Archeologists claim that people of the Indus valley have grown cotton and made use of it from as early as 3500 BCE. Furthermore, seeds, cortege and pre-Incan cotton grave cloths in Peru were also discovered at around 2500 BCE. In 1500 BCE, Hindu hymns were written denoting cloth production, as the phrases such as “threads in the loom” as it appears in verses of the Rig Veda. Moreover, the Greek historian Herodotus notes Indian cottons, “a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep” in his manuscripts around 500BCE. Cotton gins, is the term used for an instrument that separates cotton fiber from its seed. Historians have documented its use since 5th CE and were discovered in Asia, Africa, and American Southwest. There have been many discussions on whether gin might have spread across continents or were independently invented by different countries. Both theories however present evidence that cotton gins have been used throughout history, regardless of its actual origin, gins date back to early civilization in its most basic form. The first gin also known as single roller consist of a narrow roller and a flat base. The Ajanta caves of India showed evidence of a single roller cotton gin at around 500 CE. Single roller gins were also …show more content…
As a solution to this problem that cotton plantations face, he built a device that would speed up the process of separating the fiber from its cotton seed. In October 28, 1793, he patented the cotton gin. Much credit was given to Eli Whitney and the cotton gin but history has it written everywhere, along with a multitude of evidence demonstrating that the cotton gin’s existence did not materialize solely as Eli Whitney’s own idea but rather a collective evolution that started since early civilization. Eli Whitney may have created his own model but the principles and mechanics behind it were all derived from cotton gins that were manufactured by different civilizations and societies across the world. It is also important to note that merely relying on patent information are often times misleading. Further investigation and analysis is critical in determining actual origins particularly with technological inventions as often times, patented devices are prototypes of improved inventions of primitive technologies that were created by earlier civilizations. A part from actual historical facts on the evolution of cotton gin, there were also controversies, stating that Eli Whitney derived the idea of the cotton gin from slaves
Farming is an exceptionally significant part of the world, the U.S., and especially my little county, Gates County. Eli Whitney was someone who greatly aided the period of the Industrial Revolution and even now, the cotton in our pillows and shirts comes from somewhere, right? From his life before fame to his invention to the effect that it had on the world.
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
As the Indians used slash and burn to make room for crops when the Americans came to Alabama they learned this type of agriculture and started growing cotton. This led to several events that dramatically affected Alabama's early agricultural development. The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain created a greedy appetite for cotton fiber, and in 1794 Eli Whitney patented a new type of cotton gin in the United States, which lowered the cost of processing fiber. “By the time Alabama became a state in 1819, the interior of the state was easily accessed via the Tombigbee, Warrior, Alabama, and Chattahoochee rivers. Crops could also be transported to European and New England markets via the ports of Mobile and Apalachicola, Florida. Settlers poured into the new state with one objective to grow cotton. As time passed there was almost four million acres of cotton growing in Alabama” (Mitchell, 2007). As time progressed people thought of a new type of agriculture.
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.”
Thompson, Jennifer. Cotton, Ronald. “Picking Cotton.” Ferris State University. Williams Auditorium, Big Rapids, MI. 15 April 2014. Guest Lecture.
The 19th century market revolution was a period of dramatic socioeconomic development in the United States. According to Ronald Takaki, this “revolution” culminated in a boom of entreprenuership, ease of business, and an insatiable demand for labor that led to the racialization of minorities in the United States. After a stagnate economy in the late 1700s due to poor soil quality, the invention of the Cotton Gin by Elie Whitney jumpstarted the market by allowing tougher strains of cotton to be grown and processed. Suddenly, the “Cotton Kingdom” was immensely profitable. In addition, a decrease in shipping costs (76) and spreading use of banking and capital (76) made doing business in the US easier. The United States also had, in contrary to
During the period between 1790 and 1850, the United States was rapidly changing. It was now a separate country with its own economy, laws, and government. The country was learning to live on its own, apart from England. There began to appear a rift between North and South. The North believing in the Puritan Merchant role model, and the South in the role model of the English Country Squire. The North traded with everyone, while the South traded primarily with England. The major crop in the South was tobacco, and because of the decline in the price of tobacco the slave trade was dying, just as those in the North hoped it would. Then came a man, and an invention, which changed the course of history. In 1792, Eli Whitney visited the plantation of Catherine Greene, the wife of Revolutionary War general, Nathaniel Greene, near Savannah Georgia. He watched cotton being cleaned; a very long and time consuming process to do by hand. Watching the cotton being cleaned an idea came to Whitney. He decided he would build a machine that would clean cotton faster than it could be done by hand. Thus, he created the cotton gin.
Cotton, once a very difficult and complicated crop to grow due to its many seeds stuck to its fibers, became a smooth, factory like performance with the aid of the cotton gin. Cotton was so important it made up two thirds of all 200 million dollars. The cotton gin, thanks to Eli Whitney helped remove the seeds faster, and not as painstakingly as before, this resulted in faster and greater production. A greater product wield means that the larger the workforce needed to grow in conjunction with the labor force, in this case reffered to as “King Cotton”. The greater workforce was slaves, and the invention of the cotton gin led to greatly expanding the amount of slavery in the South. The more slaves brought in to cultivate the cotton the more involucrate the Southern planters had become with agriculture, this strong attachment and dependency for cotton led to the South’s poor establishment of Industry. The total value of textiles from the South for example, made about 4.5 million dollars in the 1860’s, that may sound impressive but it is r...
In 1793 Whitney saw the difficulty of taking out cotton seeds by hand (Cefrey 10-11). He decided to create a machine that could clean cotton faster than a human could. The Cotton Gin made the processing of cotton much faster and quicker. As a result of this, land owners were now able to have large cotton plantations
“European and New England purchases soared from 720,000 bales in 1830, to 2.85 million bales in 1850, to nearly 5 million in 1860” (Yafa). Cotton production renewed the need for slavery after the tobacco market declined in the late 18th century (Locks pg737-747, Eichhorn). “The more cotton grown, the more slaves were needed to pick the crop. By 1860, on the eve of the American Civil War, cotton accounted for almost 60% of American exports, representing a total value of nearly $200 million a year”
The Cotton Gin was an invention that allowed the mass production of cotton. Cotton was previously a very difficult crop to profit from, because of the long hours required to separate cotton seeds from the actual cotton fibers. This all changed when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793, a machine that sped up the process, thereby making cotton farming a profitable industry for the Southern States. With large areas of prime land ready for crops the Southern states bought and transported slaves in record numbers in order to work on their cotton farms. Although there are no definitive statistics approximately 1,000,000 slaves were moved west from the 'old Southern states' to the new ones; i.e. Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas to Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. The new ease of cotton ginning coupled with the high demand for cotton in the textile industry gave rise to the need for a workforce to harvest the cotton. The farmers turned to a readily available labor force they didn't have to pay: slaves.
produce cotton. This new market needed a labor force to drive it to it's full potential. The creation of
The "technological retardist" theories are strongest in considering the erosion of "King Cotton` s" pre eminence, due in part to America` s competition and, the critics suggest, the British cotton manager` s lack of judgement. It is said that the slow adoption of the ring spindle in spinning, and the low uptake of the automatic loom in weaving seriously hampered those industries` competitive edge.
The invention of the cotton gin helped speed up the growth of the United States, of course with the help of Eli Whitney who helped the United States in many other ways. As a result, cotton became the cheapest and most widely used textile fabric in the world.