The Cotton Gin
The cotton gin influenced the history of the United states. Cotton was not always usable on a large scale. The gin successfully pulled out the seeds from cotton bolls. Once the cotton gin was invented cotton was used on a much larger scale.
How it came about
Whitney noticed how cleaning cotton took a large amount of time. He also noticed the trouble the slaves were going through to pick the seeds out of the cotton fiber. He wanted something that would decrease that time and make it easier. In his spare time he put something together that would allow people to clean more cotton in a shorter amount of time. This was called the Cotton Gin.
How the orginal cotton gin works
Original cotton gin
1. Put the cotton bolls in the top of the machine,
2. You turn the handle, which turns the cotton through the wire teeth that combs out the the seeds.
3. Then the cotton is pulled out of the wire teeth and out of the cotton gin.
How modern day cotton gin works
Modern cotton gin
The basic functions of the cotton gin has not changed but it has become a lot faster, larger, and efficient. It has allowed us to produce cotton much faster than we were able to before.
1. Use powerful pipes to suck the cotton into the gin.
2. The seeds move through dryers and through cleaning machines that remove the gins waste,
3. Then it goes to the gin stand where circular saws with small sharp teeth pluck the fiber from the seed.
4. Immediately the cotton is baled.