Essay About Cotton Gin And Slave Owners

The Cotton Gin – Essay – abraham jraisat
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The Cotton Gin
Abraham JraisatHUM 155Module 5December 8, 2017Abraham Lincoln UniversityThe Cotton Gin was created to perform mass productions of cotton in the late 17th century. Cotton picking was a very difficult way to profit from as it required many long hours of hard labor to separate the cotton seeds from the cotton fibers itself. The invention of the Cotton Gin, created by Eli Whitney in 1793 altered the way of cotton picking, which quickened the process of picking and making cotton farms a more profitable industry for Southern States. Attitudes toward slavery changed dramatically following the invention of the Cotton Gin when slave owners came to the realization of the riches that can be made from cotton itself. Though a depiction of the several ways that the cotton gin has affected slavery, an understanding of the significant impact that machines made on manual labor may be gained.  One of the most impactful changes that the cotton gin placed on slavery as a whole is the labor in which slaves had to undergo; there was a significant rise and demand for cotton growth and picking. Before the invention of the cotton gin, cotton was not the most profitable crop. Because of the tedious work of removing the seeds from the cotton it was difficult to produce quickly. “While it was true that the cotton gin reduced the labor of removing seeds, it did not reduce the need for slaves to grow and pick the cotton.” (Schur, 2016) While the cotton gin seemed to reduce the number of slaves to work, it in fact produced more slaves to work in large plantation fields for growing and picking the cotton once it was harvested. In 1790 there had been an estimated slave population of seven hundred thousand and it grew significantly to more than four million by the year of 1860. (Faragher, Buhle, Czitrom, Armitage pg. 258)

Additionally, the cotton gin increased the labor force in size but significantly reduced the labor load on the slaves. This was a more efficient way because the slaves didn’t consume a majority of their time picking out the individual seeds present in the cotton. This in return tied in well with the health of the many slaves. Slaves were now expected to live for a longer duration for a variety of reasons. Heavy workloads, and manual work typically results in a faster pace in aging. Many slaves were also prone to diseases such as malaria and yellow fever because of the intensity of their jobs. In present day, we now have evidence that backs up the claim that heavy manual labor will result in a weaker immune system. Back then, medical knowledge was still in the process of developing. “Sickness was chronic; twenty percent of more of the slave labor force on most plantations were sick at any one time” (Faragher, Buhle, Czitrom, Armitage pg. 259). Slave owners would exhaust their slaves and believed that the slaves were “malingering” their sicknesses. As a result, slave owners soon began to realize that an adequate diet, comfortable living circumstances, and decreasing the work load would work in the favor of the slave holder.

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“The Cotton Gin” EssaysForStudent.com. 12 2017. 2017. 12 2017 < "The Cotton Gin." EssaysForStudent.com. EssaysForStudent.com, 12 2017. Web. 12 2017. < "The Cotton Gin." EssaysForStudent.com. 12, 2017. Accessed 12, 2017. Essay Preview By: abraham jraisat Submitted: December 17, 2017 Essay Length: 862 Words / 4 Pages Paper type: Essay Views: 533 Report this essay Tweet Related Essays What Is Gin? What is Gin? Gin is defined as "distilled liquor made from grain and flavored with juniper berries" (www.pimpworks.com). Gin is a clear white spirit. The 263 Words  |  2 Pages Cotton COTTON The crop that I chose is cotton. Cotton did not originate in North Carolina. Columbus discovered Cotton in 1492, growing in the Bahama Islands. 322 Words  |  2 Pages Southern Cotton and Slave Industry By 1790s, the tobacco industry lost its value in America. Cotton became king in the southern states with huge demand from British textile factories. It 404 Words  |  2 Pages Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin Eli Whitney : Eli Whitney was the inventor of the cotton gin and a pioneer in the mass 766 Words  |  4 Pages Get Access to 89,000+ Essays and Term Papers Join 209,000+ Other Students High Quality Essays and Documents Sign up © 2008–2020 EssaysForStudent.comFree Essays, Book Reports, Term Papers and Research Papers Essays Sign up Sign in Contact us Site Map Privacy Policy Terms of Service Facebook Twitter