America during the Industrial Revolution: Northeast Industrialization and the Cotton Gin

Northeast Industrialization

While the Industrial Revolution was going on in Europe, a similar change in America was happening as well. In the Northeast, America was becoming increasingly industrialized. Factories were popping up across the northeast and workers were immigrating to America in masses hoping to find a better life. Large companies were starting to form, and the northeast was turning away from old agricultural lifestyles to one of manufacturing and wage workers, and the idea of separate spheres really came into existence. This is just as how all of Europe was becoming more industrialized during this age, and factories were becoming more and more popular overseas as well. Wage earning and the idea of separate spheres were becoming popular in both places, and the trend in the northeast was to manufacture for a living, much like how it was in England.






The Cotton Gin

Even though the Northeast was known for its industry and the South was known for its agriculture, the developments of the Industrial Revolution played a major impact in the South as well, and led it to becoming one of the largest and most productive agricultural hubs in the world. The invention that led the way in this growth was the Cotton Gin. Invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney, the cotton gin allowed automated removal of the cotton seeds in the cotton fibers, which was previously done by hand. This increased the efficiency of cotton production dramatically, and quickly cotton became the biggest cash crop in the south and one of the most important products in the world. This invention was comparable to James Watt's steam engine in terms of importance to its country and the world around it. Just as James Watt's engine allowed England to burst ahead in the manufacturing world, the cotton gin allowed the American South to charge ahead and become the agricultural center of the world.