QU201 Technology

The Cotton Gin

WHAT: (Some back ground information- physical attributes and what it was use

d for)

· A machine that automated the separation of cottonseed from the short-staple cotton fiber.

· Eli Whitney's machine was the first to clean short-staple cotton.

· His cotton engine consisted of spiked teeth mounted on a boxed revolving cylinder which, when turned by a crank, pulled the cotton fiber through small slotted openings so as to separate the seeds from the lint, a rotating brush, operated via a belt and pulleys, removed the lint from the projecting spikes.

WHO INVENTED IT: Eli Whitney was the inventor of the cotton gin and a pioneer in the mass production of cotton. Whitney was born in Westboro, Massachusetts on December 8, 1765 and died on January 8, 1825. He graduated from Yale College in 1792. By April 1793, Whitney had designed and constructed the cotton gin

WHERE:

· It was invented in the state of Georgia.

· Eli Whitney, a native to the state of Massachusetts went to Georgia to make his fortune just as many other New Englanders were doing at the time

WHEN: 1972

INVENTIONS ADVANTAGES:

· This machine was created to ease the tremendous burdens of those who labored to pick the seeds from the cotton.

· This machine could clean as much cotton as fifty men could working by hand

· It projected America into a mechanized world, where machines make work easier for man

· Though the economy and many individuals benefited financially from the gin and it’s increased yield production

· Through the use of horse-drawn and water-powered gins, the ginning process was speeded up enormously. This permitted increased cotton production and lowered costs.

· The Cotton Gin started the American Industrial Revolution.

INVENTIONS DISADVANTAGES:

· A disastrous factory fire prevented enough gins to meet the demand, and manufacturers throughout the South began to copy the invention.

· It had disastrous effects on the institution of slavery

· Cotton became the cheapest and most widely used textile fabric in the world and the “need” for slaves thusly increased.

· Capital had been invested in slaves, not in transportation or factories.

Picture of Eli and his partner ordering slaves-

Percentage of slaves that had increased because of America’s Industrial Revolution-