In
1793, Eli Whitney, a young New Englander, invented the cotton gin which was the
machine that cleaned cotton quickly and efficiently. Even though cotton had
been grown for more than five thousand years, it was still localized cotton
market until Whitney’s machine was invented. People separated the fluff from
the seed by handpicking. The cotton gins helped grow the cotton industry not
only in American, but also in Britain, France, and Belgium. Before the American
Civil War, most of the cotton was grown by the slaves in the South. But after
that, they produced more than twice as much cotton (with free labor) as they
had before. With Whitney’s cotton gin, 73 percent of all clothing in Europe and
United States was made from cotton a century later, contrast to 4 percent in
1793.
Questions:
1.
How could the cotton industry go if the cotton gin was
not invented?
2.
How did this step (cotton gin’s invention) help grow
the American economy?
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