WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The most significant effect of the cotton gin, however, was the growth of slavery. 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: -With the gin (short for engine), raw cotton could be quickly cleaned; Suddenly cotton became a profitable crop, transforming the southern economy and changing the dynamics of slavery. The first federal census of 1790 counted 697, 897 slaves; by 1810, there were 1.2 million slaves, a 70 percent increase.

Detailed explanation-3: -While reducing the number of slaves needed to grow cotton the cotton gin greatly increased the areas where cotton could be profitably grown. This increased the demand for slaves.

Detailed explanation-4: -The gin separated the sticky seeds from the fibers in short-staple cotton, which was easy to grow in the deep South but difficult to process. The gin improved the separation of the seeds and fibers but the cotton still needed to be picked by hand.

Detailed explanation-5: -Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin in 1793. Suddenly we could turn a profit on this terribly labor-intensive crop. From then until the Civil War the slave population increased to the astonishing level of 4, 000, 000.