How Did The Cotton Gin Change The South

250 Words1 Pages
The invention of the Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney changed the South for the better. It made the South a major world trader as well as a wealthy region. It did this by increasing cotton production and slave trade in the lower U.S. Almost as soon as the Cotton Gin was developed it produced major success. It allowed Planters and Yeomen’s alike, to produce cotton as a faster rate. Soon cotton production went from, “2 million pounds in 1791 to a billion pounds by 1860. As early as 1840 the United States was producing half of the cotton grown around the world” (White 379). This surplus of cotton mentioned was produced by the cotton gin and sold worldwide making the South a major trade power and exceedingly wealthy. The cotton gin needed someone