Eli Whitney did not become rich through his invention of the cotton gin because of patent disputes
Prior to the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1792, cotton was not an important crop to the European settlers of the U.S., according to the Teaching U.S. History website. Cotton was not considered important until the mid to late 18th century in countries such as England because of their reliance on wool products. After the cotton gin was invented, the export of cotton from the U.S. was centered on trade with England.
Cotton Gin
The use of cotton as a crop in the U.S. was limited to long staple cotton, which is the easiest to pick and remove seeds from and is grown along the southern coast of the U.S. Inland crops of cotton were medium staple cottons; in this type it is more difficult to remove seeds from the cotton fibers. Eli Whitney arrived in Georgia in September 1792 after graduating form Yale College, the National Archive reports. Soon after arriving in the south, he observed slave laborers removing cotton seeds from cotton bolls with great difficulty. It took around 10 hours to remove the seeds from 1 lb. of cotton lint. The machine created by Whitney used a sieve of wires to hold the seed while a drum brushed the lint from the seeds. The cotton gin removed seeds from cotton lint at a faster rate than humans could.
Cotton
Following the invention of the cotton gin, cotton become an important crop grown by plantation owners in southern states. In 1790 before the invention of the cotton gin the U.S. produced around 1,500 lbs. of cotton, growing to 35,000 lbs. by 1800. This growth continued through 1848 when the U.S. produced 1,000,000 lbs. of cotton, according to the Teaching U.S. History website. During the same period the reliance of the U.S. on other crops, such as tobacco and rice, was reduced.
Slaves
The largest effect of the introduction of the cotton gin was the increase in slaves brought into cotton producing states. In 1790 the U.S. had six slave states, growing to 15 in 1860 because of the spread of cotton crops, the National Archives reports. The spread of cotton crops, grown and picked by slave labor spread southwest after the cotton gin was introduced to the state of Mississippi.
Exports
Cotton was an important crop to the U.S. economy. Around three-fifths of the exports from the U.S. were from the south, the majority of which were cotton products, the National Archives reports. Following the invention of the cotton gin, Eli Whitney began mass production of various products, such as the musket in 1798.
