March 14 in American History
Whitney's machine, which quickly separated cotton fiber from seed, made cotton hugely profitable — and, tragically, entrenched slavery across the American South just as it had seemed to be fading. One invention reshaped the economy, the map, and the moral crisis that would lead to civil war. Technology's consequences are rarely simple.
In 1794: Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin. Whitney's machine, which quickly separated cotton fiber from seed, made cotton hugely profitable — and, tragically, entrenched slavery across the American South just as it had seemed to be fading.
Whitney's machine, which quickly separated cotton fiber from seed, made cotton hugely profitable — and, tragically, entrenched slavery across the American South just as it had seemed to be fading. One invention reshaped the economy, the map, and the moral crisis that would lead to civil war. Technology's consequences are rarely simple.
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