| Cotton is one of the most important and versatile fibers used in industry today, but until the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, mass production of the crop was too difficult and time consuming to be profitable. Invented by Eli Whitney, the gin was designed to separate raw cotton fibers from seeds and other foreign materials prior to baling and marketing. The cotton gin enabled one person to do the work previously done by 50 hand-pickers, an efficiency that spurred the rapid spread of cotton plantations throughout the South in the United States. The design remains virtually unchanged to the present day. |
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