The Cotton Gin

A cultural artifact is anything that is created by the human race. Whatever it is that was created will give society information about the specific culture. These artifacts are found everywhere because all artificial objects are considered artifacts. The human race has been creating objects since the first civilization in the Stone Age. The first ever artificial objects were tools made of stone, wood, and bone. This involved things such as pointed stones (arrow heads), carved rocks (axes), and later on rounded rocks (wheels). The field of archaeology is strongly related to the whole idea of historical artifacts, as an archaeologist’s job is to study human society through analysis of material and environmental information.

As time progresses, cultural artifacts become more and more complex. This is a result of civilization development which only happened because of past culture. Artifacts are left in past civilizations and they are found by the new civilization. For example, tools from the Stone Age inspired those who were a part of the next age, the Bronze Age. People of the Bronze Age made the same kind of tools, but out of different materials. New civilization is easily developed because they are simply building off past inventions. At the beginning of time, there was not much technology. They had no choice but to use what they had. Raw materials were the only way to create new cultural artifacts until times advanced to a new era.

When complexity settled in, machines began to appear in history. Instead of the basic process of carving materials into tools and other objects, mechanisms were being built. Simple devices were created in order to accomplish the basic tasks of the everyday life. The sundial was constructed in ancient times to find the time of day. Pots and other dish like objects were formed through the use of clay. These creations allowed society to eat and drink in a civilized way. Eventually an electrical powered pottery wheel was created in order to make this task easier on the people. This was one of numerous machines created to make work more efficient.

In 1793, the cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney. The real name for this machine was cotton engine; it performed a task that was originally done by hand. Cotton fibers were separated from their seeds when placed through this apparatus. Like most inventions, the cotton gin made life much easier for those who picked cotton. Cotton fields are found in the South of our country. As a result of this invention, cotton production obviously sky rocketed. Over a twenty year time period, cotton bale production more than tripled. However, cotton production was not the only thing that increased after the invention of the cotton gin.

This was an invention that predominately affected the South because this is where all the cotton was. There was more than cotton in the South; there were also slaves at this time. Within a half century of the time this was invented, the number of slave more than quadrupled. The amount of slave states nearly tripled. Plantations soon became the biggest part of Southern agriculture because cotton has such great significance in all communities. This machine lessened the amount of physical labor necessary from the slaves. But the fact that cotton production boomed forced the need for more slaves. The amount of profit coming from this new machine was ridiculous. Plantation owners were making millions of dollars more than they previously were. So why would they get rid of slavery. If anything they would want more slaves because the money was extraordinary at this point. This is what happened, an increase in slavery. As the need of slaves increased, slave families were destroyed. Slave families could no longer live together, or near each other. When there was a need for slaves at a plantation, any slave from any family was pulled and placed in the cotton plantation. The cotton plantations were simply too powerful with tons of money.

Powerful industries were not only beneficial to the people. Yes, businesses were making much more money, but problems began to arise. The increase of slaves caused for more slave territories. Slavery was becoming noticeably widespread when the South began to take African Americans from the North. People of the North were obviously against slavery and the African Americans in the North were free. The North originally bought cotton from the South and made finished goods with the cotton. But slavery got out of control and it had to stop.

Many people see the invention of the cotton gin as a cause to the Civil War. Slavery expanded too much and Slave states multiplied too much to the point where someone had to do something about the situation. In addition there was a war among the North and South. Without the cotton gin, slavery could have still grown and the Civil War may have still happened. But the cotton gin definitely created growth in slavery. This, in the end, caused the Civil War.

It is well known that our nation’s slaves were historically African American. This is why the cotton gin is related to their culture. When Eli Whitney created the cotton gin, he did not propose the idea that the machine is for African American use. The only intention for the cotton gin was to make the process of separating cotton easier. However, during the time of this invention, African Americans happened to be those who labored over cotton. It was a time of slavery and blacks were slaves. Prior to the cotton gin, there definitely was slavery, but to a lesser degree. The cotton gin can be considered controversial because it, in a way, promoted slavery. Again, this was not Whitney’s intention, but the invention factually contributed to the historic problem of slavery. Some say that slavery was declining in the late 1700s. Next they will say that the cotton gin ruined this decline and forced a boom in the slave industry. It is hard to say slavery was ending around the time of this invention. Either way, the cotton gin is a cultural artifact that creates a stereotype that the machine is related to African Americans. When the public thinks of the cotton gin, they also think of African Americans.