Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin

What happened

In 1793 the American inventor Eli Whitney devised the cotton gin, a simple machine of wire teeth and brushes that pulled the seeds from short-staple cotton far faster than could be done by hand. It made cotton newly profitable across the American South.

Why it matters

The gin fed the booming textile mills of Britain and New England — but by making cotton so lucrative, it entrenched and expanded slavery across the American South, helping set the stage for the Civil War.

Sources

• Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Reproduction of Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin Model · Reputable source
• History Teaching Institute, The Ohio State University. The Cotton Gin · Reputable source