c) Cotton Gin

The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 significantly boosted the Southern economy before the Civil War. This machine revolutionized cotton production by efficiently separating cotton fibers from their seeds, a process that was previously labor-intensive and time-consuming. The cotton gin’s impact was profound, leading to a boom in cotton production and solidifying cotton as the primary cash crop of the South. However, it also had the unintended consequence of intensifying the reliance on slave labor, contributing to the deepening of the sectional divide over slavery in the United States.