PBS
Pbs: Africans in America: Part 3: Impact of the Cotton Gin
An African American associate professor of history at Cornell discusses the impact of the cotton gin on slavery.
Ohio State University
Osu History Teaching Institute: The Cotton Gin
This instructional activity will help learners understand the importance of the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1794.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Library: I Will Be Heard: A Slave's Life
A brief look at how slavery in America was tied to the crops grown in the South. See how the need for skilled workers was decreased and the use of unskilled slaves increased with the introduction of the cotton gin.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Eli Whitney
This is a great resource for Eli Whitney. Details his development of the cotton gin, and offers additional information through outside links.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Cotton Promotes Slavery
A brief history of how the economic growth of the South became dependent on the work of slaves and how this solidified the unity of the southern states. Links throughout the text will take to you sites containing relevant information.
Library of Congress
Loc: What in the World Is That?
Can you match the picture to the correct invention? Read about these inventions and the importance of them. Also included are related sites to find further information about each invention.
Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press.
New Georgia Encyclopedia: History and Archaeology: Eli Whitney in Georgia
Although Eli Whitney was born in Massachusetts, it was in Georgia that he invented the cotton gin in 1793.
US National Archives
Our Documents: Patent for Cotton Gin (1794)
Interactive image of Eli Whitney's plans for the cotton gin, accompanied by an explanation of the cotton gin's purpose and significance in relation to the Industrial Revolution.
Open Door Team
Open Door Web Site: Brief History of the Cotton Industry
General history overview of the development of the Cotton Industry. Read here to learn about the history and growth of the Cotton Industry.
PBS
Pbs: Who Made America?: Innovators: Eli Whitney
One-page profile of influential innovator, Eli Whitney, whose vision and ideas created the cotton gin and what would later be known as "mass production".
PBS
Pbs Who Made America? Eli Whitney
In popular mythology, Eli Whitney has been deemed the "father of American technology," for two innovations: the cotton gin, and the idea of using interchangeable parts.
Enchanted Learning
Enchanted Learning: Inventors & Inventions From the 1700s
Use this site to learn more about early inventors and inventions from the 18th century. This web page offers text and images on various inventors and their inventions. You can also access information about inventors and inventions from...
Other
Eli Whitney/cotton Gin
A collection of websites on Eli Whitney and his invention, the cotton gin.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Peculiar Institution
A very brief look at the "Peculiar Institution" of slavery in the South before the Civil War. Read about how slavery became so entrenced and why it drove a wedge between the North and South.
US Department of Agriculture
Usda: Survey of Seed Cotton and Lint Cleaning Equipment in Us Roller Gins
Summary and abstract of article about processing cotton, includes a description of ginning.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Crowning of King Cotton
Read how an invention made it possible to increase the amount of cotton available for export, thus leading to an increase in the number of acres planted in cotton, and resulting in the need for more and more slaves. Before the invention...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Wake Up, America: Industrial Revolution in America [Pdf]
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that looks at the technological advances of early nineteenth-century America and the birth of the Industrial Revolution in America.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Movement South and Westward
Following Eli Whitney's invention in 1793 of the cotton gin -- a machine that separated raw cotton from seeds and other waste -- the cotton market boomed. Planters in the South bought land from small farmers who frequently moved farther...
Digital History
Digital History: Early Industrialization
Advances in technology affected manufacturing in the North and farming in the South. Read about how America turned from a country where most products were made in the home to an economic power that used factory production.
Raleigh Charter High School
Mrs. Newmark's Page: The Industrial Revolution
Take this quiz to assess your knowledge on the industrial revolution.
PBS
Pbs: Africans in America: Part 3: Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin
History of Eli Whitney and his cotton gin. Other links to sites with information on this topic.
US National Archives
Nara: Teaching With Documents: Revolution and the New Nation (1754 1820s)
Links to primary source documents from the revolution to the new nation.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Cotton and African American Life
But for the invention of the cotton gin, slavery perhaps would have died out in the United States in the early 19th century. Read about why technological advances caused the spread of slavery in the South and read about how slaves clung...
US National Archives
Nara: Teaching With Documents: Eli Whitney's Patent for the Cotton Gin
This National Archives and Records Administration site relates the history of Eli Whitney and his remarkable inventions. Links to sites with patent information on the cotton gin. Tons of teacher's resources can be found at this site.