In the late 1790s, as America was still in its first decade of country-hood, Eli Whitney submitted a patent for the cotton gin. This machine, which essentially removed the human element from cleaning cotton (think: removing the seeds), revolutionized the southern economy.
Read the following links (Link One, Video) and then answer these two questions for the comment section.
1) What was Eli Whitney's original intent for the cotton gin? Did he think it would encourage or discourage the slave system in the South?
2) What were the consequences (both good and bad) of the cotton gin?
1. The cotton gin revolutionized the way seeds were removed from cotton. It was literally capable of removing seeds 50 times faster compared to removing them by hand. Without putting much though into it, a machine that is 50 times more efficient than previous methods would seem to free 50 times more slaves, right? In reality, that was not the case. In fact, it caused the number of slaves to increase.
ReplyDelete2. The cotton gin had both pros and cons. Of course, one of them is the ability to produce cotton 50 times faster. Cotton farmers could now produce cotton and sell of 98% of their slaves. However, this was not the case. With the cotton gin, the law of supply and demand comes into play. When Eli Whitney had released the cotton gin, the demand for cotton skyrocketed. It became so much easier to obtain, therefore lowering the price and more people wanting to get their hands on cotton. Because of the influx of demand, it called for more supply. Therefore, there must be bigger plantations, which of course mean more slaves. Instead of most slaves filtering the seeds from the cotton, now they were out in the fields picking the cotton. By the later 1800s, a third of the population of southern states was slaves. The Cotton Gin may have made cotton processing significantly easier, but it certainly did not reduce slave labor, unfortunately.
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ReplyDeleteThe cotton gin was a good invention by Eli Whitney. The cotton gin could remove seeds from the plant fifty times faster than a slave or a field worker could. I think he wanted to help decrease the number of slave but it did exactly what he didn't want and increased them. Once people saw the gin working and figured out that it's faster than having slaves do it they thought the more slates I have that can work the iron gin the more cotton I could have which would bring in more money.
ReplyDeleteThere are many good things land bad things of this machine. The good part is that it could remove cotton fifty times after so it doesn't take as long. The bad part was the people were thinking that the more slaves they had the more cotton and money they would get.
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1) Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin to help farmers with picking cotton and removing seeds. He invented this to pick the seeds way faster than any man could. Eli Whitney did not support slaves so he decided to invent the. Cotton gin to help try to cut back on slaves to where there was not as many slaves in the south. After he invented this farmers realized the more slaves they had the more he could have working the machine so the more cotton he could sale. Eli Whitney did not mean for this to happen.
ReplyDelete2)the good part about the cotton gin is that it picked cotton a lot faster, and probably got it more clean than a man could. The bad part about the cotton gin was that it increased slaves, and put more out on the fields that it decreased them.
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The cotton gin was definitely a good thing for people. Farmers would spend days trying to get the seeds our of cotton and clean the plants. It made things go by a lot faster since cotton was such a popular plant. He thought it would decrease the time it took to get cotton fully available. He was correct and even though he couldn't make much profit off of it at the time. This was a very popular product.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good thing because it meant we could make and sell products faster. However, everything good thing has its flaws. First, it did not make it better for slaves. In fact it really started to make it worse. This was sad because really this invention was to help people and it couldn't do that for everyone. (136)
Whitney's intentions were to help farmers produce more cotton quickly, so I do think he wanted to encourage the slave system. Whitney saw that cotton was being produce painstakingly slow, so he and another person decided to create an invention to help with these issues. It worked, and even though he didn't make much money, he helped farmers make more cotton, at the cost of more slaves. I believe he knew all along that this would mean more slaves were needed, but he didn't care.
ReplyDeleteThe only real pro to the cotton gin was that farmers could produce cotton more quickly. This was a huge help, but the downside was much worse. There is also on downside I see, but I think it overtakes the pro. Due to the fact that the cotton gin could create cotton more quickly, farmers needed more slaves, or at least wanted more, to run the gin so cotton could be produced at an alarming rate. Yes, the farmers made more money, but more slaves is never a good thing for those you are enslaving.
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1. The cotton gin was one of the best inventions. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1807. The real intent for the cotton gin was so that the machine would removed all of the seeds from cotton. It was capable of going 50 times more faster then picking out all of the seeds by hand. I think he wanted to decrease the number of slaves but instead it had increased the number of them.
ReplyDelete2. There were a lot of ways this machine was good and bad. One way is they it was much faster to remove seeds and you wouldn't have to use your hands to remove it. The bad way is, it increased the number of slaves.
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1.Eli Whitney's original intent for the cotton gin was a machine that could effectively and efficiently remove the seeds from cotton plants. He thought that it would encourage the slave system in the south.
ReplyDelete2. One result of the cotton gin’s success was that it helped strengthen slavery in the South. Another result that it caused it to help planters earn greater profits, prompting them to grow larger crops, which in turn required more people. The patent laws of the time made it difficult for Whitney to protect his rights asan inventor. It also made cotton processing less labor-intensive and different. 103 words
The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney. Whitney invented this incredible machine in the year of 1807. The purpose for this amazing machine was to pick out every single one of the seeds from a piece of cotton. This was later proven to be fifty times faster than a person doing it all by hand. With this new tool, Whitney probably thought it would decrease the number of slaves. I would have guessed that too. But unfortunately, it increased the number of slaves. This was obviously not his original intent. The consequences were pretty much just the increase of slavery. Slave owners just got greedy and bought more slaves to work the machines.
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Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin was intended to help farmers. I doubt he wanted it to encourage or discourage the slave system. He just intended for it to revolutionize farming and make it easier to remove seeds and faster. Considering it could remove seeds 50 times faster than the previous way I think he definitely revolutionized farming in the south.
ReplyDeleteThere was a of course many pros and cons and goods and bads of the cotton gin. The pros were of course it did revolutionize the way cotton was produced and made it much easier to remove seeds. The cons and the downside was since it was so successful in the way it produced cotton it obviously meant there was more cotton faster, which meant there had to be more workers. There had to be more slaves to handle the cotton and just that happened they got more slaves.
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1) Jen was a very good invention I think his purpose was to decrease the slaves in the south. I think he did a great job of doing that but he too could have taken a little more consideration in the safety devices in this because it was very dangerous machine. This machine was great though because it remove seeds from the con almost 50 times faster then picking it up by hand sleeves and have thorns in their hands he's had to work the machine.
ReplyDelete2) both good and bad consequences of this machine the good is that it made it a whole lot easier on slaves. And the bad is that it was a very dangerous machine because limbs a little children could get stuck in it just was not good. I have a friend who got their hair stuck in something yes and it could've been very dangerous.
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1. I believe that Whitney had good intentions for the cotton gin. He wanted to reduce the amount of labor it took to pick seeds out of cotton. I believe that he meant for his cotton gin to be a help for slaves. It also took less time than hand picking it, so he might have thought that it would reduce the amount of hours a slave had to work.
ReplyDelete2. The good thing about the cotton gin is that it took less time to pick out the seeds which meant that the slaves could produce the same amount of cotton in less time, thus giving them more time to do other stuff. However, slave owners made them produce more cotton and they also bought more slaves.
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1. The cotton gin was probably discouraged slavery because the gin was to pull the cotton from the seeds. It made it easier for slaves because all they had to do was use the gin and not use their hands But it hurt the slave owners caused they didn't need as many people and they need more money to buy the gins. They original intensions of the gin was to reduce the amount of labor.
ReplyDelete2. All the things good were for the slaves. They didn't have to work as much as they used to because they had something to do the work for them. It was bad the owners because they would lose money because of the gins being expensive
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1. Eli Whitney's intent for the cotton gin to help the economy. I feel like he wanted to reduce the time and labor it took to to get the seeds out of the cotton. Because of this it greatly helped the U.S. In its trading with cotton since they got about twice as more cotton as they would usually have ready. When Eli Whitney first created the cotton gin I don't really know if he knew/ wanted the slavery in the south increase as much as it did but in my opinion I don't think he wanted the slavery to grow i honestly think that he just wanted to help the economy by making cotton a more obtainable item.
ReplyDelete2. The invention of the Cotton Gin impacted the ways of life and work for many southerners. For example the cotton gin helped with the production of cotton by reducing the labor by 50 times. This was one of the more positive impacts. Even so there were still negative ones to like even though the cotton gin did help the economy and and profits for the U.S. it had also increased slavery even more in the south. There were many impacts the cotton gin made but the most important one is probably that it helped us move forward towards the future we have now.
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His plan was to fix the mistakes/troubles that were happening and he created the cotton gin, removed seeds from cotton fiber. By doing so he thought to put them on plantations in the south. Not only were the farmers happy and excited they decided to make cotton gins themselves; leaving his pirated. Since, slavery was a huge thing back then, the cotton gin made farmers get more slaves. The cotton gin required labor, and so slaves were the cheapest labor. Slavery was very well encouraged in the south.
ReplyDeleteWell, since the south loved the idea of the cotton gins, as I said before, they decided to make cotton gins leaving Eli's to be pirated. Also, the cotton gin meant that cotton could be produced plentifully and cheaply for domestic use and for export, for the south. For the north, well cotton’s rise meant a steady supply of raw materials for its textile mills. It helped both a lot, and also made the south greedy.
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ReplyDelete1.) the cotton gin would take out the seeds of the cotton. it was way faster and a very more efficient tool for farming. I think he thought it would discourage the slaves, because it gave them less work to do. and I would agree with him. but instead it did the exact opposite. the farmers realized it used less slave,Cnut that meant more cotton gins, which could bring in more money. Eli Whitney had a good idea, trying to get rid of slaves, it just went the opposite way.
ReplyDelete2.) Their we're both pros and cons. of course it made it go way faster, which was an ultimate pro. you could have a lot more cotton in a lot less time. the on,y bad part was, instead of decreasing the amount of slaves, this machine actually increased.
lots of cotton gins = more slaves = faster clean cotton = $$$ and money was mostly what the farmers cared about. there were definitely two sides of the story.
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1. He made it to help with the taking out the seeds in cotton since it took so long and he heard from the widow about how hard it is to grow and mainly get rid of the seeds in the cotton and how hard it was and how long it took with the cotton and seeds. He thought that slavery would be even more discouraged than it already was.
ReplyDelete2. It made cotton more beneficial for farmers to grow and sell since it took less time and slaves could then focuse on growing more cotton then getting cotton seeds out of cotton since they could use the cotton gin to get seeds out with just one slave. Slavery started to get a come back because of the cotton gin. (Word count 130)
This weeks blog is about Eli Whitney and the cotton gin. Was it a great idea that sparked a revolution? Or was it a terrible idea that changed life as the people knew it?
ReplyDelete1. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in the year 1793. It was a revolutionary product and idea. Eli Whitney's original idea for the cotton gin was to improve the production rate of cotton, but did this happen? I would say that the cotton gin improved the cotton industry by a long shot. Eli Whitney definately had a lot of success with the cotton gin. Did Mr. Whitney originally intend for the cotton gin to improve the amount of slaves, or lessen them? I think he wanted to make the cotton gin to replace some slaves and not need as many; instead it actually heavily expanded the numbers and use of slaves. In my eyes, Eli Whitney's invention was a great product that revolutionized the cotton industry.
2. Consequences can be both good and bad, and the cotton gin had both. Like I stated previously, the cotton gin increased the use of slaves on plantations by a lot. This is one of the bad consequences. A good consequence of the cotton gin was how it vastly changed the cotton industry. Eli Whitney's idea changed the world for the better in the end.
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1.) His original plan for the cotton gin was to increase the rate cotton was being produced. It surly improved the cotton rate by fifty miles. Whitney had a lot of success in the cotton gin. He also wanted it to improve the amount of slaves. You would think that this would decrease the amount of slaves needed but it did not.
ReplyDelete2.) The cotton gin was both good and bad. The bad thing is that is increased the amount of slaves that where owned. The good thing is that is changed the cotton industry more rapidly than ever.
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Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in the year 1793. It was a revolutionary product and idea. Eli Whitney's original idea for the cotton gin was to improve the production rate of cotton, but did this happen? I would say that the cotton gin improved the cotton industry by a long shot. Eli Whitney definately had a lot of success with the cotton gin. Did Mr. Whitney originally intend for the cotton gin to improve the amount of slaves, or lessen them? I think he wanted to make the cotton gin to replace some slaves and not need as many; instead it actually heavily expanded the numbers and use of slaves. In my eyes, Eli Whitney's invention was a great product that revolutionized the cotton industry.
ReplyDelete2. Consequences can be both good and bad, and the cotton gin had both. Like I stated previously, the cotton gin increased the use of slaves on plantations by a lot. This is one of the bad consequences. A good consequence of the cotton gin was how it vastly changed the cotton industry. Eli Whitney's idea changed the world for the better in the end.
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1) Cotton was the main crop of the South but was very difficult and painful to clean: cotton pickers could only clean about one pound of cotton per day. Eli Whitney built a machine the would easily clean the cotton and called it the cotton gin. I believe that one of the reasons Whitney made the cotton gin was so that work would be cut in half and so would the amount of slaves.
ReplyDelete2) One good thing about the invention is that it changed the cotton industry greatly; cotton could be easily cleaned, which allowed farmers to grow much more cotton. But one bad thing that came from the new invention is that for many plantation owners, Eli Whitney's cotton gin gave them a reason to keep slaves and to even expand slavery. With more cotton, farmers needed more slaves to pick the cotton.
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Eli Whitney made a thing called a cotton grin. The plan for the Cotten grin was to help with making it prudence a lot faster than usual. He had an amazing amount of successful things with it. I really think he wanted to make this as a way to let slaves do less work really.
ReplyDeleteI would say it was both food and bad. It was good because good it did make it easier to do things with cotton but it was bad because it did make the slaves a lot more work and things like that needed around.
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1. making a cotton factory sounded like a great idea back then. eli thought that since making cotton was so much work and very time consuming, it would be easier to just make a cotton factory and just have a machine make it. i see where eli was going with that but sadly it didnt work out exactly how he planned it would.
ReplyDelete2. there are many pros and cons about the cotton gin, i honestly think the main thing that was good about the cotton gin was that it was easier for farmers and not as time consuming. the main bad thing that i think of when i think of the cotton gin is the slave population. people felt like having these machines meant work for slaves, and thats not what eli wanted at all!
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Eli Whitney invented the Cotton gin, which was created to help pick out the seeds of cotton. This machine took the seeds out fifty times faster than the slave workers. In my opinion I think invention was made to decrease the slavery percentage.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I think the Cotten gin was both good and bad. It helped America with the evolution of inventions, and it helped increase the percentage of cotton which made it the most wanted product. It was also bad because it made the popularity of slavery amoung plantations go up because the more the cotton products were demanded, there more slaves the plantations needed. 108
1. He invented the cotton gin to make the producing of cotton easier. He was doing this so that he would be able to make slavery expand across the country. He wanted to make money so this was probably his way of doing that. Or he wanted the slaves job to be easier.
ReplyDelete1. By the middle of the 19th century, cotton had become America’s leading export. Despite its success, the cotton gin didn't make a lot money for Whitney due to patent-infringement issues. Also, his invention offered some Southern planters a justification to maintain slavery and expand it even as a growing number of Americans supported its abolition. (108 words)
His original intent for this machine was it to make it easier to remove seed from cotton so more could be distributed. I honestly think he thought it would discourage it. I mean who could have guessed that all of the sudden England would be needing all of this cotton from us. Not me! Also, in the video it mentioned him thinking this would decrease the hard labor for slaves. Even if he realized it he could not stop it. Everyone had already copied his invention through loopholes. Plus that girl was though to have had made the designs so if Eli would have said no she Maynard just found another guy to patent the machine for her.
ReplyDeleteGood- America become very wealthy with all the sells of cotton. I think the woman said we were making around 74% of the worlds cotton. I mean that is a lot. Also it made slaves not have to work 10 hours just to get seeds out of one pound of cotton.
Bad- one out of every three southerners were a slave which completely takes over the whole 10 hour thing. Thanks a lot cotton gin.
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He thought that the cotton gin would lessen the need for slaves,because it required less work and produced much more than the previous system could produce in the same amount of time.He thought his invention would discourage the slave systems presence in the south.
ReplyDeleteThe cotton gin decreased the amount of labor needed to separate the cotton and such but it also increased the demand for slavery.With cotton being so easily available,it became very popular but plantation owners needed someone to grow and harvest the cotton for them.This unfortunately caused slavery to go back up in popularity. (102 words)