Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, the cotton gin separated cotton seed from cotton fiber, speeding cotton processing and making profitable the cultivation of the more hardy, but difficult to clean, short-staple cotton; led directly to the dramatic nineteenth-century expansion of slavery in the South.

A cotton gin is a machine used to separate cotton seeds from fiber. It was invented by Eli Whitney in 1792.

Thanks to the Whitney machine, the fibers from the pods and seeds of their pods, which are sometimes sticky, can be separated at great speed and cheaper. The invention drove the Industrial Revolution but also slavery. The ginning machine uses a screen and small wire hooks that push the cotton across the screen, while brushes continuously remove the loose cotton threads to prevent jamming.