WORLD 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. In fact, the opposite occurred. Cotton growing became so profitable for enslavers that it greatly increased their demand for both land and enslaved labor.

Detailed explanation-2: -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-3: -Because the cotton gin made it possible for workers to produce more cotton in a single day, it led to an increase in the demand for slave labor to grow the cotton.

Detailed explanation-4: -Growing more cotton meant an increased demand for slaves. Slaves in the Upper South became incredibly more valuable as commodities because of this demand for them in the Deep South. They were sold off in droves. This created a Second Middle Passage, the second largest forced migration in America’s history.

Detailed explanation-5: -How did the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 affect the use of slave labor in the South? Because the cotton gin processed cotton so quickly, farmers needed increasing numbers of enslaved workers.