Eli Whitney’s Invention Of The Cotton Gin And Its Impact On America

A microwave oven was all it took to double the slave population in America and make the world’s economies collapse. Eli Whitney was an innovative and clever man who invented the cotton-gin. He designed the machine to make it easier to separate cotton fibers from their seeds. He did not know what the machine would do for the nation. Eli Whitney created “The Cotton Kingdom”, the US’s economic engine, and led it all. Slavery demand increased as cotton prices dropped and the demand for cotton rose. While Eli Whitney didn’t intend to increase slavery through the cotton gin’s use, the United States actually saw an increase in slavery.

Eli Whitney is a well-known inventor and entrepreneur. He is also a leader of industrial revolution. These attributes are due in part to the invention of the cotton yarn and the ability to mass-produce parts. In his youth, he was known for his entrepreneurial and innovative actions. His early intelligence is a result of his ability to understand mechanisms, his love of literature, and his creativity. In his twenties, Eli worked as a mechanic for his father. His father was a handyman and he learned blacksmithing and carpentry to assist him in making repairs for his customers. While he was still working at his father’s shop, he decided to sell nails. Because they were highly in demand during the Revolutionary War, he convinced his father to let him do it. Eli attended Yale college later. He was then unemployed when he finished college and began looking for work. Eli was a tutor for two years until Phineas Mills, his friend suggested that Eli get a job. He accepted the job and worked as a tutor for Catherine Greene, a businesswoman who also managed a plantation. After a time, he tutored at the plantation before Catherine Greene gave him the task of designing a machine to remove the cotton seeds. The original, 1000-year-old handpicking method was created by this invention. Cotton was not an important trading item at this time due to its difficulty in separating the seeds and the cotton fibers. To make traditional clothing, cotton was mostly used by small groups of primitive people. Christopher Columbus found cotton in the Bahamas a thousand years later and planted it in America. The plant was first grown in the US’s southern region and then harvested by slaves. Hand separation of the seeds from the fibers has been a traditional method for thousands of years. The United States was a major exporter to many countries, including Europe, of cotton before the invention of the cotton gin. Because the cotton production was labor-intensive, time-consuming and notoriously prone to slave use, there has been a low demand. Catherine Greene’s local neighbors came up with the idea. Together they discussed how difficult it was to separate cotton fibers from seeds and clean them. Eli was assigned the task of trying to find a more efficient and easier way to separate the seeds.

Eli began to experiment with new ways to improve the efficiency of the process. The invention of the cotton-gin took only one year from design to patent approval. Eli worked under Catherine Greene on the cotton-gin invention from 1773 to 17.74. Eli was satisfied with the final design and felt he had a strong marketing strategy. He applied for a 30 dollar patent. Thomas Jefferson sent Eli a letter to inform him about the process of patenting the cotton-gin. He expressed concern that slaves were used for seed picking and said this invention would help to reduce the embarrassment. The machine was innovative and extremely efficient. The machine produced 10 times more fabric per day than one person. Only one person was required to use the machine. They were responsible for feeding the cotton and turning it by hand. This machine is attractive because it allows you to make a profit. However, Eli Whitney’s sales strategy and production process were poor. The cotton gin’s design was simple and easy to reproduce. Eli ended up losing more money from the machine’s profits than suing others for infringing his designs. Eli had 4000 dollar debt by 1797. Everyone, except Eli, seemed to make money from cotton.

Even though Eli never made any profit, there were many other economies that did, particularly Britain which would be able to export the clothes made from American cotton. The American economy was transformed by the cotton gin, which even led to the industrial revolution. Cotton was not only a lucrative business for the rancher. Cotton was a profitable commodity for all parties, including North American banks, shipping merchants and stakeholders. Additionally, fertile land between Georgia and Texas was very valuable. South America produced approximately 75 percent of all global cotton production by the War of 1812. The Mississippi River was the location where the majority of the millionaires in the south’s cotton industry were created. Cotton became America’s driving force, as well as the entire world, due to its rapid growth in “The Cotton Kingdom”. The industrial revolution was fueled by textile manufacturers. About 39% of US exports to cotton were made between 1820 and 1836. In 1836 around 59 percent all US exports included cotton. The value of cotton exported overseas was around 71,000,000 dollars up until 1836. The Cotton Kingdom was a positive influence on the US. However, there were negative side effects on the nation.

The US was largely shaped by slavery. Many Atlantic civilizations were built upon the work of slave field workers. Slavery grew even though slavery was less prevalent in the US. As cotton grew, the demand for it surpassed the supply in the south. So slaves were also in high demand. Eli Whitney was not trying to increase slavery, but he was a major reason for it. Because the cotton gin was made to cut down on labor, one could say that he tried reducing it. It did exactly that, but it was too successful. The demand for cotton grew rapidly and it became a popular product. To keep up with demand, ranchers had to hire more slaves. Due to the increased demand for slaves, the south’s slavery nearly doubled over the next 20 year. Between 1790 and 1802, the south’s slave population increased from 657,000 to an alarming 1.3million. The most important and most notorious event that occurred in America was slavery.

Eli Whitney did not intend to increase American slavery. The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney to speed up the process of separating the seed and fibers. It was difficult to comprehend the side effects caused by the cotton-gin. The world saw an increase in economies and the creation of a lot more money. The single negative effect of the cotton-gin on the US was its incredible demand for slave labor. This was an indirect result of the US’s high cotton demand. Plantation owners couldn’t resist the opportunity to be part of “The Cotton Kingdom”, so they bought more slaves to help them in the field. The price of cotton fell, and the demand for cotton increased. This led to an increase in slavery’s demand. These were all the results of one man’s small machine.