1. Revolutionizing the Nation. Interesting fact: The average boll of cotton weighs about three grams. That is only.oo6 pounds.

2.  A textile mill was a factory that revolutionized the making of thread.  These mills were places by streams and rivers so the mill could run on natural water power.  As more and more textile mills were built, the need for cotton grew rapidly.  The picking and cleaning the cotton took many slaves and a lot of work. The increase in textile mills made it difficult to keep up with the demand for cotton.

4.  The Cotton Gin was invented by Eli Whitney.  This machine revolutionized the process of cleaning cotton; making the procedure much faster than it was before.  Only one slave was needed to run this machine but it could produce the work of fifty.  The cotton gin separated the seeds from the cotton far faster than doing it by hand.  These seeds could then be used to plant more cotton or be used to make oil.

7.  This machine could also produce fifty pounds of cotton in one day. Remember: one boll of cotton weighs only 6/1000 of a pound.  Many people found out about Eli Whitney’s cotton gin and made different versions of it before he could release his.

8.  A cash crop is a crop that produces a lot of money.  Many of the cash crops in the eighteen hundreds were rice, tobacco, corn, and peanuts.  Tobacco had been the “chief” cash crop.  As the need for cotton increased so did the price. Cotton was making huge amounts of money for the sellers and cotton became the top cash crop.

10.  1) A cash crop is a crop that you can sell and produces a large income.  2) Cotton was so valuable because it was used to make many popular products like shirts and blankets. It was also shipped to textile mills across the world.  3) The cotton gin was a device invented by Eli Whitney, used to separate cotton seeds from the cotton. It was useful because you only needed one person to run it and it could do the work of fifty.