Cotton+Gin

2. **What I already know Who?** Eli Whitney
 * What?** Cotton Gin
 * Where?** The South
 * When?** During the Industrial Revolution
 * Why?** He did his inventions so that he could make them more easy to clean cotton.
 * How?** I'm not sure

3. **What I want to know (research questions): Who?** Who helped him with his invention?
 * What?** What were other inventions
 * Where?** Where did all of his inventions happen?
 * When?** When did Eli start thinking of inventing things?
 * Why?** Why did Eli start inventing things?
 * How?** How did his invention affect the way of living life?
 * How did this impact the Industrial Revolution, or how did the Industrial Revolution affect this?** Some of his inventions affected the Industrial Revolution because it made communication and the way to life much easier.

4. **My research strategy: Who?** I'll ask Ms. Horn and Ms. Brem for help in locating information. I could ask Ms. Brolan or Mr. D. I could as the public librarian.
 * What?** Expert websites, databases, encyclopedias, books, textbook.
 * Where?** The CTMS and public library.

Eli Whitney influenced the Industrial Revolution by his invention and experiments which sped up cotton cleaning.

" American mechanical engineer; inventor of the cotton gin, the milling machine, and a prime mover in the development of the tools and methods of mass production that were to make his crountry a great industrial nation." (Lomask) "The cotton gin developed by Eli Whitney in 1793 marked a major turning point in the economic history of the Southern United States." (Phillips)."cotton required hundreds of man-hours to separate the cottonseed from the raw cotton fibers. Simple seed-removing devices have been around for centuries, however, Eli Whitney's invention automated the seed separation process. His machine could generate up to fifty pounds of cleaned cotton daily, making cotton production profitable for the southern states." (Bellis)

The cotton gin pulled cotton through wire teeth connected to a cylinder that the cotton passed through. It can be operated by man, animal, and water. (Encyclopaedia Britannica Online). "The cotton **gin** was a very simple invention. First, the cotton bolls were put into the top of the machine. Next, you turn the handle, which turns the cotton through the wire teeth that combs out the seeds. Then the cotton is pulled out of the wire teeth and out of the cotton gin." (Romero) Slaves used this machine to seprate the seeds from the cotton. (Phillips) "His machine could generate up to fifty pounds of cleaned cotton daily, making cotton production profitable for the southern states." (Bellis)

"Now that cotton is easier to clean and since it grows easily, cotton became the number one cash crop in the South. The farmers needed more land to grow cotton. They took the land from the Native Americans. The farmers needed more workers. Slaves were the free labor that the farmers needed to **harvest** the cotton." (Romero). An invention that helped slaves clean cotton. (Encyclopaedia Britannica Online)