What was the cotton gin's impact on American slavery?

Background Eli Whitney and the Need for an Invention As Eli Whitney left New England and headed South in 1792, he had no idea that within the next seven months he would invent a machine that would profoundly alter the course of American history. read more

Whereas the tobacco and rice production were limited in the United States, the American South provided the perfect soil and conditions to grow cotton. This, in turn, gave slavery new life in the Americas as cotton was a enormous cash crop. read more

With the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became "king" in the South. Cotton emerged as quite a money-maker for the Southern states. Planters wanted to cash in on this cotton boom, but more manpower was needed to grow the larger cotton crops. read more