Impact of the Cotton Gin

Before 1794, cotton seeds were separated from the fiber by hand and it took many hours to make a pound of lint (cotton fiber with the seeds removed). Therefore, cotton cloth was...

• ...cheap and popular.

• ... too expensive for many Americans.

• ... not even invented yet.

• none of these

When separating seeds from fibers by hand, it could take a whole day to produce one pound of lint. The cotton gin mechanically separated the seed from the fiber, which made it possible to produce...

• ...2 pounds of lint in a day.

• ... 50 pounds of lint in a day.

• .... shirts, pants, and dresses, right there in the field.

• ...none of these

Because the cotton gin made it possible to clean more cotton in a shorter amount of time, cotton cloth became…

• ... more expensive and unpopular.

• ...easier to transport.

• ...harder to transport

• ...cheaper and more popular.

As the demand for cotton cloth grew, farmers in the South wanted to grow…

• ... more cotton.

• ... less cotton

• ... more tobacco

• ... less papaya

Unfortunately, many Southerners thought it made economic sense to have enslaved people tend their cotton because...

• ...cotton was a labor intensive crop.

• ... one overseer could supervise many field workers.

• none of these

• both of these

Ultimately, the cotton gin resulted in...

• ...a slight increase in the number of slaves in the U.S.

• ... an enormous increase in the number of slaves in the U.S.

• ...a slight decrease in the number of slaves in the U.S.

• ... an enormous decrease in the number of slaves in the U.S.

Slavery was devastating because...

• ...people were physically and sexually abused.

• ... families were torn apart.

• ... it was dehumanizing.

• all of these