How Did The Cotton Gin Affect The Economy

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Cotton was a cash crop in the south. Slavery made harvesting cotton more efficient, a crop that helped the United States economically. Eli Whitney, an inventor, invented the cotton gin in an attempt to reduce the use of slave labor (www.teachinghistory.org). The cotton gin made it much easier to separate the seeds from the cotton. “In one hour, the cotton gin (engine) did as much work as several slaves could do in a day.” (www.teachingushistory.org) This proves that the cotton gin significantly improved the production of cotton. “...the increasing prevalence of large-scale plantation agriculture resulted in a dramatic increase in the demand for more slaves to work those plantations.” (www.teachinghistory.org) What this means is, although