Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin

We also had our class presentation this past week! We were quite excited to hear from all the other groups as well as share with everyone else some of what we have learned!

This is another interesting video, which highlights some key points about the cotton economy

This video provides a succinct overview of the cotton gin and its affects.

One interesting viewpoint we’ve come across is that of Dr. Daniels from Northwestern University.  He disagrees with the idea that the cotton gin directly influenced slavery and the Civil War but rather human attitudes and habits are to blame.

Source: “Inventing the cotton gin : machine and myth in antebellum America” Angela Lakwete, 1949

In class today, we had elevator pitches. Jackie gave our team pitch and represented us nicely! We got to listen to what everyone else is researching and heard about a lot of interesting topics! We can’t wait to delve deeper into our topic and also see what everyone else discovers in their research!

Check out our awesome team logo drawn by Alex and digitized by Jackie! It was inspired by the strife and oppression that resulted from the cotton gin.