The Cotton Gin - Impacting All of America
The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 as a solution to removing the sticky seeds that clung to short staple cotton.1 Raw cotton was put into the machine. Early models were powered by a hand-crank, dragging the cotton through screens that were large enough to pull the cotton through, but small enough to block the seeds. As the cotton gin developed, larger models were made and could be powered by steam-engines.
The cotton gin revolutionized the cotton industry. Cotton was already something that was very easy to grow and, unlike food crops, it couldn’t expire. Before the cotton gin, removing the seeds from cotton was demanding work that slowed production dramatically. In response to the invention, southern cotton farmers were able to produce more product more quickly and reach international markets.3 Cotton became a common and sought-after product and affected the north’s industry as well. Cotton production as a fabric increased and industrialization increased in the north’s textile mills.4 The expanding industry led to an increase in the institution of slavery as well, as enslavers looked to increase the production of cotton in the south.
Eli Whitney Cotton Gin Contract, 1807
The south’s reliance on enslaved labor only increased with the cotton industry. Producing cotton was less labor intensive, which led to the production of more crops. More crops led to the need for more people to work. Enslavers bought more slaves in response and increased the population of enslaved peoples in the US, even as anti-slavery feelings increased in the north.5 This is directly related to Galesburg and the founding of Knox College because Galesburg was founded to be a stop on the underground railroad. More people in the north were working to end slavery as it continued to grow in the south. Galesburg’s founding is just a reflection of that. The cotton gin started as a small machine, but had a huge impact on the US as a whole.
By Bea Hartman
1 Locke, Joseph, and Ben Wright. The American Yawp. Stanford University Press, n.d. https://www.americanyawp.com/.
2 Locke, Joseph, and Ben Wright. The American Yawp. Stanford University Press, n.d. https://www.americanyawp.com/.
3 Locke, Joseph, and Ben Wright. The American Yawp. Stanford University Press, n.d. https://www.americanyawp.com/.
4 Locke, Joseph, and Ben Wright. The American Yawp. Stanford University Press, n.d. https://www.americanyawp.com/.
Image: Eli Whitney, "Eli Whitney Cotton Gin Contract," 1807. Governor John Sevier Papers, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, TN. Accessed May 25, 2021.