What is Cotton gin?
[[File:Cotton gin EWM 2007.jpg|thumb|right|A cotton gin]] [[File:Cotton boll nearly ready for harvest.jpg|thumb|Cotton ball with seed]] A '''cotton gin''', or a cotton engine is a [[machine]] that pulls [[cotton]] fibers away from the cotton seeds. The modern cotton gin was invented by the [[United States|American]] [[inventor]] [[Eli Whitney]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eliwhitney.org/museum/eli-whitney/cotton-gin|title=Eli Whitney and the Need for an Invention|access-date=2009-11-07|archive-date=2009-11-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130010851/http://www.eliwhitney.org/museum/eli-whitney/cotton-gin|url-status=dead}}</ref>It is significant in American history because after its invention, Southerners began growing much more cotton and so they needed more slaves to work on their cotton plantations. Instead of disappearing, slavery became even more important to the Southern economy. ==References== {{reflist}} {{tech-stub}} [[Category:Agricultural machinery]]