Transcript Eli Whitney Invents the Cotton Gin

Eli Whitney Invents the
Cotton Gin
Agenda
•
EQ: What political, social, and economic factors caused the division between the
North and South?
 Warm-Up: What were some of the main crops grown in the South?
 MLQ: How can we learn about effects of the Cotton Gin on Southern society
by reading for information?
Vocabulary
Tedious: Tiresome by reason of length, slowness
Innovation: The act of introducing something new
Reading and grading DBQ can be a tedious job.
The IPAD was one of the greatest innovations of the 21st century.
Work period: Students will:
1) In your group read tiered passage
2) Answer tiered questions
 Share: Share answers
 Closing: Summary of lesson
H.W. What were four advantages of cotton as a crop?
What problem did the Cotton Gin solve?
What effect do you think the Cotton Gin had on the demand for slave labor?
• Eli Whitney, a young man from
Massachusetts, listened politely to the
Georgia planters’ complaints. Tobacco
prices were low, and rice and indigo prices
weren’t much better.
Distribution of Slave Labor in 1850
• Cotton grew well, but
cleaning the seeds
out of cotton fibers
was a big problem.
• A slave picking out
seeds by hand could
clean only a few
pounds a day.
• At that rate, even
using cheap slave
labor, there was no
profit in raising cotton.
• Unless something changed, the future of
farming in the South looked bleak.
“Hauling the Whole Week’s Pickings”
William Henry Brown, 1842
• As the planters
talked about their
problems with
cotton production,
a solution to their
problem began to
take shape in
Whitney's head.
• Within months he had
created the cotton
gin, an invention that
allowed raw cotton to
pass through narrow
slits in a piece of
wood, pulling the
cotton fibers through
but leaving the seeds
behind.
• A small gin could
be hand-cranked;
larger versions
could be
harnessed to a
horse or driven
by water power.
• "One man and a
horse will do more
than fifty men with
the old machines,"
wrote Whitney to his
father. . . . "Tis
generally said by
those who know
anything about it,
that I shall make a
fortune by it."
Cotton Gin
Slaves Using the Cotton Gin
Changes in Cotton Production
1820
1860
American Cotton Production
• Thanks to his
invention, cotton
production in the
U.S. skyrocketed
from 1.5 million
pounds in 1790 to
85 million pounds
in 1810.
90
80
70
60
50
cotton
40
30
20
10
0
1790 1810
• But in the end,
Whitney made
virtually nothing
from his invention.
Others copied his
invention and he
was left virtually
penniless.
Work Period
• Each group read tiered level passage
Answer the question located on the back of your worksheets.
Then answer one of the following skill based question
depending on your group
Skilled Task Questions
Main Idea- What is the main idea of the reading passage and list
important details or facts as evidence
Vocabulary- Find two vocabulary words in the passage that you
had difficulty with and use context clues to help define the
words and write a sentence using those words.
Cause and Effect- What were two causes that lead to the
invention of the Cotton Gin? What was effect on slavery, the
economy, and society.