The Cotton Gin - Seeds of a Lie - US History - Extra History

Bowling Green Plantation, Wilkinson County, Mississippi, 1795. Eli Whitney has planted the seed of the American cotton industry's industrial revolution by engineering the cotton gin! Which would revolutionize cotton production and create less of a need for slavery. However, these were just the seeds of a lie.
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♪ Outro music: "Alleyways and Truncheons by Tiffany Roman

#ExtraHistory #CottonGin #History

[LadyDeirdre]

In grade 5, my teacher got hold of a half-bale of raw cotton, a dozen cotton combs, and a hand cranked gin. Six kids with combs in 15 minutes managed to de-seed a single palmful of cotton each. Then the gin crew, three kids, went to work. 15 minutes later, they'd separated half the bale.

[jamcdonald]

Whitney: I will make a machine to end slavery!
[slavery continues]
Whitney:... fine then, I will make guns to end slavery

[Corristo]

Ironically the cotton gin contributed to the South's defeat during the Civil War, as the continued reliance on the slave-based cotton industry kept the South from industrializing to the extent the North had. Steel and iron production, miles of railway laid, goods produced, etc. The South was wholy based on producing and exporting cotton, while the North industrialised and diversified its economy.

[ozymandiaskingofkings]

Ironically, the cotton gin ensured that slavery would only end at the tip of a bayonet.

[jamesvanantwerp]

"The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future." - Frank Herbert

[catcharide]

6:15 Eli Whitney can rest easy knowing his work on interchangeable parts helped defeat the Confederacy in the Civil War.

[johnyricco]

A simple form of the cotton gin has been used in India and China for centuries before the Whitney patent. Those were not nearly as efficient, but they were far better than using fingers alone.

[brianblake]

Being from Connecticut, we all learn about the ironic tragedy that was the cotton gin. It's also worth mentioning that Whitney us a hero here. There are many major streets, and a science museum named after him.

From my understanding, he's honoured just as much for his anti-slavery views, as for his engineering brilliance.

[ddobefaest]

This is the story of almost all pre-20th Century technology. New technology advancements don't allow us to do less work. The allow us to do MORE work in the same amount of time.

[Martinroadsguy]

When I was in middle school I had a history teacher tell the class that if the civil war hadn't happened, slavery would have ended because of industrialization. I asked him why that would mean slave owners would get rid of their slaves instead of just increasing production by making slaves operate machinery and work in factories? He didn't really have much of an answer for that.

[danielhawkins]

Slavery was being slowly choked by the economic realities. Egypt was undercutting US labor costs and taking world share. The cotton gin saved slavery as an institution in the US.

[kieranpriest]

My grandad used to talk as bout his grandad and how being sold down the river to a cotton plantation was worse than Death.

[CliffCardi]

Slaves: “So this machine will make our lives easier?”
Plantation owners: “Well yes, but actually no.”

[nelleneulmer]

One of the biggest things that I remember about the cotton gin, despite not knowing what it did, except that it was used in cotton production, was all of the horrific injuries and mutilations it caused slave workers.

[davididiart]

The Poor: Gee! Maybe with this innovation, the rich will finally give us a fair shake!
The Rich: Well yes, but actually no.

The universal constant.

[GuapoGtGuap]

Even though most southerners weren't slaveowners, I think it's worthwhile to say how many were. 30% of Southern households owned slaves, almost a third of the south. And, although many rank and file Confederate soldiers didn't personally own slaves, it's also worth saying that they were still enthusiastic supporters of slavery and knowingly supported secession as a slavery issue.

[freeNode]

little detail not mentioned here: Those cotton seeds inside are SHARP like thorn-covered little burrs. Getting them out of there is painful. Although, eventually your fingers would become callus and tough.

[jroden]

Thank you for teaching me and my wife something that we were NEVER taught in either high school or college.

We live in North Carolina.

[Fux]

In Brazil we're changing how we refer to the Africans forcefully brought to our country - not as "slaves" anymore but as "enslaved". It's one of the language changes that I find to be actually good and useful. After all, no one "is a slave", people are enslaved.

[squidbro]

7:38 "Progress for some often translates to a step back for others..." Yes, but oftentimes the actual progress means those who are advantaged need to take the loss. I love my chocolate, but I am more than willing to cut back on consumption and pay more so child labor and any slave labor is abolished in that industry.