Process Paper
Michael Barkan
5/12/13
Mr. Sunderland
Process Paper Final Draft
My topic is how the invention of the cotton gin affected slave trade and slave labor. The whole idea of slavery enthralls and disgusts me at the same time, so when an opportunity to study a primary cause of a slavery explosion presented itself, I eagerly accepted. I chose the cotton gin because not only did it revive the dying practice, but it also was a catalyst for the civil war. Additionally, we discussed the cotton gin very briefly in class, stating how slavery was fading away until the invention of it caused a revival.
When I first started researching the cotton gin, it became clear to me that there was a vast body of information to draw from, and in order to avoid overwhelming myself, I had to approach it correctly. I rented a book called Inventing the Cotton Gin: Machine and Myth in Antebellum America. While the focus of the book doesn’t seem to be on slave labor and trade itself, there is still a large amount of information dedicated to that topic. The book was written by reputable professional historian Angela Lakwete, whose major fields are History of Technology and U.S. History. Reflecting on the entire experience, the hardest part of the whole process was finding an academic journal to draw information from. It always seemed to me that the information was inaccurate, unverifiable, or unhelpful, but after a great deal of searching I finally found a great source. The most interesting thing for me to learn, was how such a simple invention could have such far-reaching consequences.It fascinated me that not only could the machine cause an exponential increase in slavery, but also cause the bloodiest war in US history, and ultimately end slavery. The final thing I did this week, was once again reword my topic. This time I changed it to “How the Cotton Gin Lead to Reforms in the Slavery” for the simple reason that I liked how it sounded much more professional and interesting than my other three topic ideas. Additionally, I can still see acknowledge both sides of the argument while focusing primarily on one side.
My finalized thesis; In 1794, Eli Whitney patented a new type of cotton gin, a machine that vastly increased cotton production speed. His gin created the largest American export of the time, and changed the face of slavery forever. The gin was directly responsible for a six hundred percent increase in the United States slave population during the seventy years prior to the civil war, as well as the cause of an influx of African slaves (Wahl). Although the cotton gin caused hardships for millions of slaves, it was ultimately the cause for the civil war, and with it their liberation.
Word Count: 458
5/12/13
Mr. Sunderland
Process Paper Final Draft
My topic is how the invention of the cotton gin affected slave trade and slave labor. The whole idea of slavery enthralls and disgusts me at the same time, so when an opportunity to study a primary cause of a slavery explosion presented itself, I eagerly accepted. I chose the cotton gin because not only did it revive the dying practice, but it also was a catalyst for the civil war. Additionally, we discussed the cotton gin very briefly in class, stating how slavery was fading away until the invention of it caused a revival.
When I first started researching the cotton gin, it became clear to me that there was a vast body of information to draw from, and in order to avoid overwhelming myself, I had to approach it correctly. I rented a book called Inventing the Cotton Gin: Machine and Myth in Antebellum America. While the focus of the book doesn’t seem to be on slave labor and trade itself, there is still a large amount of information dedicated to that topic. The book was written by reputable professional historian Angela Lakwete, whose major fields are History of Technology and U.S. History. Reflecting on the entire experience, the hardest part of the whole process was finding an academic journal to draw information from. It always seemed to me that the information was inaccurate, unverifiable, or unhelpful, but after a great deal of searching I finally found a great source. The most interesting thing for me to learn, was how such a simple invention could have such far-reaching consequences.It fascinated me that not only could the machine cause an exponential increase in slavery, but also cause the bloodiest war in US history, and ultimately end slavery. The final thing I did this week, was once again reword my topic. This time I changed it to “How the Cotton Gin Lead to Reforms in the Slavery” for the simple reason that I liked how it sounded much more professional and interesting than my other three topic ideas. Additionally, I can still see acknowledge both sides of the argument while focusing primarily on one side.
My finalized thesis; In 1794, Eli Whitney patented a new type of cotton gin, a machine that vastly increased cotton production speed. His gin created the largest American export of the time, and changed the face of slavery forever. The gin was directly responsible for a six hundred percent increase in the United States slave population during the seventy years prior to the civil war, as well as the cause of an influx of African slaves (Wahl). Although the cotton gin caused hardships for millions of slaves, it was ultimately the cause for the civil war, and with it their liberation.
Word Count: 458