Cotton Beginning

CottonThen and Now

History of Cotton

The use of cotton for clothes dates back more than 4,000 years.

Ancient Egyptians were weaving it into cloth.Arab traders brought it to Europe about 800 A.D.Cotton was planted in Florida around 1550 and

in Virginia around 1607.In England it was being spun into cloth in cloth in

the mid 1700’s

Problem with Cotton

There were three major problems with cotton.

1)The seed had to be removed so that it could be turned into thread.

2)Long Staple cotton could only be grown in certain climates.

3)Short Staple cotton could be grown in more areas but its seed was harder to remove.

The Challenge of Cotton

Cotton offer some unique challenges.1)It required a considerable amount of labor to

grow, harvest, and clean.2)To be cost effective a large amount of cheap

labor was needed.3)With short staple cotton one slave could only

clean about one bushel of cotton a day.

Enter Eli Whitney

While visiting a friend in Georgia, Whitney noticed that the machine used to separate (remove) the seed from long staple cotton could not be used on short staple cotton. His friend asked him if he might be able to come up with a solution.

In 1793 he patented his cotton gin. It soon became a huge success.

The Cotton Gin

The “Gin” Changes the South

With the invention of the cotton gin growing short staple cotton soon became profitable.

The textile mills in England and New England wanted more and more cotton.

As the demand for cotton grew so did the demand for slaves.

Large Fields

To be cost effective cotton was grown in large fields. Today as it was in the 1800’s

Ready to be Picked

Before picking the cotton plant had to die so the bowls of cotton could be picked easily.

Picking Cotton

Cotton was picked by hand.

Lining up to pick cotton

Early “Ginning”

At first the cotton was “ginned” close to the fields.

Wagons of Cotton

Later some farmers who could not afford their own gin would take their cotton by wagon to be “ginned”.

Commercial “Gins”

Large Commercial “Gins”

Off to Market

The “ginned” cotton would be baled and shipped off to markets in the north or England.

Cotton Today

Today much has changed but the process remains the same. Cotton is no longer picked by hand. Large machines now do the work once done by slaves. The “gins” have also become more efficient.

Combines Picking Cotton

Field being picked

Bales in the field

The combine leaves the bales in the field to be picked up and delivered to the “gin”. Each bale weighs about 25 tons.

Arrival at the “Gin”

Moving into the “Gin”After cutting the bales open the cotton is moved

by a vacuum system into the “gin”.

Getting closer to the gin

Entering the “Gin”

Cotton in the “Gin”

Flying cotton seeds.

More cottoned being “ginned”

Clean seeded cotton

Where the cotton seed goes.

Each pile of seeds is approximately 30 feet high.

The clean cotton is again baled.

This clean cotton is bagged and shipped off to the Treasury Department to be turn into

money.

Special Thanks to

Ms Julie RowanOf

Needles Middle Schoolfor the photos of the Cotton Gin at

Fort Mohave, ArizonaAnd obtaining the raw cotton, seeds, and

cleaned cotton.Thanks for getting your feet dusty.