The Cotton Gin: Slavery In The 19th Century

Within ten days Eli Whitney was already starting his first attempt to invent a machine to help this problem. Whitney failed the first try but tried a second time and succeeded. Therefore, the creation of the cotton gin developed.

The cotton gin, invented by a man of the name Eli Whitney, might be one of the most influential invention in its time. This was one of the most important inventions of the industrial revolution and shaped the the South into what it has become today. Whitney's invention made cotton into a very profitable crop, which helped the economic situation of slavery. Despite the impact of his invention, Whitney lost his profits in legal battles over patent infringement, and nearly filed bankruptcy.

The invention of the cotton gin changed one day's work of seeding into one hour. This innovation meant that cotton could be separated easier and quicker. Eli Whitney’s idea of the cotton gin was that it could be hand cranked by a person, powered by horses or water. Whitney quoted in the article Teaching With Documents: Eli Whitney’s Patent for the Cotton Gin, in a letter to his father, “One man and a horse will do more than fifty

The different treatments slaves received from their masters may have been caused by the different environments they were living in. After moving from the country to Baltimore, Douglass observed that slaves living in urban surroundings were treated differently from slaves living on plantations. Douglass notices that “a city slave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on the plantation. He is much better fed and clothed, and enjoys privileges altogether unknown to the slave on the plantation” (Douglass 32). These differences can be seen through the experiences of George Womble and Douglass. Mr. Womble, a slave who lived on a plantation in Clinton, Georgia, says that “slaves on the Womble plantation were treated more like animals rather than like humans” (Womble 12). Children ate from a trough and shared meals with the animals, and his master would whip slaves “just to give himself a little fun” (Womble 2). Slaves were also punished unjustly. For instance, when he was sent off to complete an errand, Mr. Womble “stopped to eat some persimmons [instead]…of returning immediately” (Womble 13). As a result, his master “started beating him on the head with a wagon spoke” until “his head was covered with knots the size of hen eggs and blood was flowing from each of them” (Womble 13). This brutal treatment would not be accepted in the city. In urban areas, masters have “a sense of shame that does much to curb and check those outbreaks of atrocious cruelty so commonly enacted

Before the Civil War, the “Old South” lived by the regimes of slavery with white’s superior

In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, a machine that removed seeds from cotton fiber. The cotton gin had a very important impact on society and economy. It was a basic, uncomplicated invention, yet, had a major effect during the Industrial Revolution (the change from an agrarian society to one based on industry which began in Great Britain and spread to the United States around 1800). The inventor, Eli Whitney, was encouraged by the system of free enterprise, the freedom of private businesses to operate competitively for profit with minimal government regulation, to invent a machine that would remove cotton seeds from cotton quickly. As a result, he invented the cotton gin which basically removed seeds from cotton in a fast and

Eli Whitney was the inventor of the cotton gin and a pioneer in the mass production of cotton. Whitney was born in Westboro , Massachusetts., on Dec. 8, 1765, and died on Jan. 8, 1825. He graduated from Yale College in 1792. By April 1793, Whitney had designed and constructed the cotton gin, a machine that automated the separation of cottonseed from the short-staple cotton fiber.

House slaves were given nicer clothing to wear, as to be presentable in the home, while field slaves often received merely a “homespun shirt that was made on the plantation”. Clearly, a distinction can be made between then house slave and field slave and although one might conclude that the house slave was treated better it truly depended on the plantation owner and his or her treatment of the slave.

When one travels in the country they learn the differences in the way people act or the way they are treated. Moving from Colonel Lloyd’s plantation to Baltimore, Frederick experienced the difference in how country slaves and city slaves were treated. 10. “A city slave is almost a freeman, compared with a slave on the plantation. He is much better fed and clothed, and enjoys privileges altogether unknown to the slave on the plantation. There is a vestige of decency, a sense of shame, that does much to curb and cheek those outbreaks of atrocious cruelty so commonly enacted upon the plantation.” (64-65). Slaveholders in the city took pride in treating their

Buckets were placed in these compartments for bathroom uses and other necessary uses (). Slaves that were placed far from these buckets had difficulty in reaching them because of the number of other slaves around them (Falconbridge, 1788). This situation would cause slaves to release themselves where they were and would cause several health issues and diseases to arise (Falconbridge, 1788). Later on in his account, Falconbridge describes the upkeep of the slaves on the voyages. The slaves were usually fed twice a day, but on most other ships they were only fed once (Falconbridge, 1788). Their food would be severed in small buckets and slaves would be placed in groups of ten for each bucket (Falconbridge, 1788). “Upon the Negroes refusing to take sustenance, I have seen coals of fire, glowing hot, put on a shovel and placed so near their lips as to scorch and burn them. And this has been accompanied with threats of forcing them to swallow the coals if they any longer persisted in refusing to eat.” (Falconbridge, 1788). Upon the resistance of the obligations of eating, slaves were extremely punished for disobeying and these punishments were severely cruel and inhumane. Slaves were forced to obey the slave owners no matter what the situation was. Slaves were even forced to exercise which would aid in the upkeep of their health (Falconbridge,

Throughout American history, there comes a time where a great invention is crafted that comes and impacts our society greatly. Inventions usually have an overall positive affect on the world, but not in the case of the cotton gin. 1792 is when Eli Whitney invented this machine(king cotton) When Eli invented it, he had no idea of the effect that it would have to American Society. The invention of the cotton gin caused an increase of slaves in the south with harsher working conditions, and it also fluctuated the southern economy, which all played a major role in the Civil War.

The cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, was a mechanized way to remove to sticky green seeds from the fluffy white cotton balls. (Eli Whitney Museum) The hand powered cotton gin was a huge advancement, but the larger versions of the cotton gin which were pulled by a horse, could produce much more. According to Whitney, "One man and a horse will do more than fifty men with

The majority of the slaves were employed in agricultural areas in the South. By the mid-19th century, a large number of slaves worked in urban areas as well, and about 5% worked in more industrial occupations. The hours of the slave workers were long. The average life expectancy of African slaves was at least 12% lower than whit Americans in 1850 and the infant mortality rate was 25% higher for slaves. Oftentimes slave marriages and families dissolved due to separation. This concept is horrible when you take under consideration that family was the entire basis of African culture.

Examination of the Slave Experience Most African Americans of the early to mid-nineteenth century experienced slavery on plantations similar to the experiences described by Frederick Douglass; the majority of slaves lived on units owned by planters who had twenty or more slaves. The planters and the white masters of these agrarian communities sought to ensure their personal safety and the profitability of their enterprises by using all the tactics-physical and psychological-at their command to make slaves obedient. Even Christianity was manipulated in a way that masters communicated to their slaves that God had commanded them to obey their masters. Hence, by word and deed whites tried to convince

Throughput the play, the parenting styles of both Micio and Demea are questioned by the audience. Despite each other thinking that their specific parenting style is superior to the other both of their sons end up in similar positions. Both sons marry significantly below their social status. Even though Mico prided himself on letting Aeschinus make his own decisions, it was clear that he did not approve of Aeschinus marrying Pamphila. As for Demea, he does not agree to let Ctesipho marry his love interest until the very end of play, in scene 5.