USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -While it was true that the cotton gin reduced the labor of removing seeds, it did not reduce the need for enslaved labor to grow and pick the cotton.

Detailed explanation-2: -In 1794, U.S.-born inventor Eli Whitney (1765-1825) patented the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber. By the mid-19th century, cotton had become America’s leading export.

Detailed explanation-3: -The gin improved the separation of the seeds and fibers but the cotton still needed to be picked by hand. The demand for cotton roughly doubled each decade following Whitney’s invention. So cotton became a very profitable crop that also demanded a growing slave-labor force to harvest it.

Detailed explanation-4: -Whitney’s hand powered cotton gin could produce approximately 50 pounds of lint cotton a day. By the time of the Civil War, steam powered cotton gins were producing approximately 2, 500 pounds of lint cotton a day. Soon cotton became the South’s most important crop and the leading U.S. export.