Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney
How It Worked!
***There is a Button to click under this that will take you to the video in a new tab.***
How it Worked: Video
**The video shows details about the hand-cleaning of the cotton and it also shows things about the Cotton Gin!**
***Cotton Info!***
- Cotton plants contained seeds that were difficult to separate from the soft fibers.
- Most of the cotton farmers were forced to grow the more labor-intensive short staple cotton.
- The short staple cotton had to be cleaned by hand, one plant at a time.
- The average cotton picker could remove the seeds from only about one pound of short-staple cotton per day.
Facts!
- Cotton Gin- A machine that removes seeds from short staple cotton!
- The term "Gin" is short for "Engine!"
- Eli Whitney invented the Gin in 1794.
- By 1850 this tool had changed the face of southern agriculture!