mar 14, 1794 - Patent Submitted for the Cotton Gin

Description:

The cotton gin was the brainchild of Eli Whitney, an engineer whose work with interchangeable parts would revolutionize industry. In the case of the South, however, the convenient cotton-seed-combing tool would rapidly speed up the work of cotton-picking slaves. Business-minded plantation owners' demand for slaves increased, and this would later form a sectional divide with northern manufacturers, who believed the plantation model was a threat to northern industry.

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