1. YOU’VE JUST MOVED
So you have just won a plot of land in the land lottery system and are preparing to move. Once you arrive, you will be miles from the closest town and supplies are limited. Come up with two items you would want to have that you believe are essential to starting a new life and being self sufficient. Explain why these items are essential.

2. UPCOMING TODAY
We will be discussing what the cotton gin and who created it.
What the effects of the cotton gin had on cotton production, labor, and the economy.
Railroads and the effects they had on population disbursement, urban growth, and transportation.

3. A LOOK BACK
Variety of crops are grown including tobacco, cotton, indigo, and rice
Cotton is hand picked and processed by hand
Transportation of resources come in the form of water ways and roads.
Location of farms and plantations depend heavily on water systems for transportation

4. WHAT IS A COTTON GIN?

5. FARMING ADVANCES
Tobacco was the primary crop produced in Georgia prior to the Cotton Gin. However the crop had damaging effects on the soil.
Up until the invention of the Cotton Gin, farmers had to “deseed” the cotton by hand.
Deseeding took a long time to accomplish. Typically, most farmers couldn't not clean more than one pound of cotton.
The Cotton Gin made the process simple and production soared up to 50 pounds a day.

6. WESTWARD MOVEMENT
Because the efficiency of the Cotton Gin, this made cotton extremely profitable.
Farmers began to move westward to seek out new land to farm.

7. RAILROADS
The creation of the railroad had a major impact on the state of Georgia.
Many of Georgia’s cities and towns, including Atlanta, were created because of the Railroad.
The first Georgia railroad was chartered in 1832 as a solution for a better way to transport cotton to Augusta due to poor road conditions.
By the 1840’s-1850’s, railroads spread across much of Georgia with the state having the most miles of track in the Deep South.

9. BIRTH OF A CITY
The city of Atlanta was created as a railroad hub in 1837 for the Western and Atlantic Railroad.
The hub was called “Terminus,” which means “end of the line.”
Later, two more railroad lines combined with this point, causing the city to grow even larger.
Because of the railroad, Atlanta became the first major American City to be built on a location without a navigable river.
In 1843, Terminus changed its name to Marthasville. Two years later in 1845, the name was changed again to Atlanta.