Egrenier machine
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The Egreniermaschine (English: Cotton Gin ) is a textile machine invented in 1793 that separates (ginned) the cotton fibers (English lint ) from the seed pods and seeds.
An 1870 article in The Library of Southern Literature , reprinted in 1910, attributes the invention to Eli Whitney . In this article, however, the author also describes that Catherine Littlefield Greene (1755–1814) Whitney suggested the use of a brush-like component, which is necessary to remove the seeds from the cotton. To date, there is no independent confirmation of Greene's role in the invention. Even so, many believe that Eli Whitney is the only inventor named in history textbooks and that the patent was awarded because the social norm at the time prevented women from applying for patents.
The Egrenier machine consists of a combination of a wire screen and small wire hooks that pull the cotton fibers through the screen while the seeds remain behind. Brushes continuously remove the loose cotton fibers to prevent clogging. Small cotton gins were hand-powered, while larger ones were powered by horses or water.
The word gin in cotton gin has no relation to the drink gin , but rather stands for “engine”. It was only with the invention of the egrenier machine that cotton cultivation was made possible on a large scale in the southern states of the USA, which made the use of slaves really profitable. Because these were no longer needed for the labor-intensive plucking of the cotton by hand, but could be used as pickers in the fields. This in turn resulted in an enormous expansion of the cultivation area. The slave economy in the southern states, which were characterized by agricultural production , increasingly brought them into conflict with the industrial northern states in the course of the 19th century and ultimately led to the American Civil War .
Web links
- Eli Whitney Museum and Workshop , accessed March 21, 2014