The Impact of the Cotton Gin

After the invention of the cotton gin, cotton became America’s leading crop.  Cotton was king.  In 1790, America produced 1,500 pounds of cotton.  By 1800, production had increased to 35,000 pounds.  By 1815, production had reached 100,000 pounds. In 1848, production exceeded 1,000,000 pounds.  Simultaneously, slavery spread across the Deep South.  In 1790, the slave population was concentrated in Virginia on the tobacco plantations and along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia on the rice plantations.    In 1820, slavery had spread westward to Mississippi.  By the Civil War, about 4 million slaves lived in the South.  Click the link below to find out more about the cotton gin's impact on the south.

Unintended Consequences - Cotton Gin

Industrial Revolution Powerpoint