In the late 1700s the slave population in the United States had decreased. Before the invention of the cotton gin the South, which could only make money by farming, was loosing money because it didnt have a major crop to export to England and the North besides tobacco and rice. However, these crops could be grown elsewhere. Cotton was the key because it couldnt be grown in large amounts in other places, but only one type of cotton that could be cleaned easily. This was long-staple cotton. Another problem arose; long-staple cotton only could be grown along the coast. There was another strain of cotton that until then could not be cleaned easily so it wasnt worth growing. The cotton gin was the solution to this problem. With the invention of the cotton gin short stemmed cotton could be cleaned easily making cotton a valued export and it could be grown anywhere in the south. The era of the Cotton Kingdom began with this invention leading into an explosion in the necessity of slaves. The cotton gin was a machine that cleaned cotton, especially short-stemmed cotton. The cotton gin consisted of spiked teeth on a boxed revolving cylinder. When it was turned by a crank, the cotton fiber was pulled through small slotted openings to separate the seeds from the lint. While that was happening a rotating brush, operated by belts and pulleys, removed the ropey lint from the spikes. A machine had been invented before to clean long-staple cotton called a Charka. It was invented in Ancient India. Eli Whitney had no idea that a machine existed while he made his machine. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793. Eli Whitney was an inventor and a mechanical engineer. He was born in Westboro, Mass. He went to Yale and graduated in 1792. He heard that a machine that could clean short-staple would help the south immensely. Also, he heard that it would make the inventor very wealthy. He liked that idea. On his way to Georgia he met Phineas Miller, Mrs. Gr...
