JOHN DEERE – invents a lightweight plow with a steel cutting edge in 1836

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JOHN DEERE STEEL PLOW

Horse could pull a steel plow through a field more quickly

CYRUS McCORMICK – invented a grain reaper in 1834, making harvest faster and easier

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His timesaving invention allowed farmers to more than double their crop size and spurred innovations in farm machinery.

Mc CORMICK REAPER

SAMUEL F.B. MORSE – invents the telegraph in 1844, speeds up communication

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ORIGINAL TELEGRAPH MACHINE - 1837

Not finished

COTTON GIN – 1793 invention that makes the cotton cleaning process easier

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Eli Whitney really did not invent the cotton gin. He patented it. He had memorized the "blue prints" from a similar plan in England, that was on lockdown to keep it from getting stolen, and he brought it to America to see if he could be paid to build it and then to sell it. As you can tell he

made a LOT of money off of it.

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THE COTTON GIN BY ELI WHITNEY

THE COTTON GIN

Before one person could clean one pound of cotton a day

Now one person could clean 50 pounds of cotton a day

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Ways that the Cotton Gin changed life in the south:

1) Triggered more cotton production in the west

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2) Made cotton the KING crop of the south

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SLAVE CROPS IN THE SOUTH - 1860

3) Slavery continues to be the major source of labor and more slaves are needed

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4) More Native Americans were moved off their land so it could be used to grow cotton

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SLAVE LIFE ON A SOUTHERN COTTON PLANTATION

SLAVE POPULATION IN 1830

Most of the slaves in the South were on huge plantations, not smaller farms

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SLAVE LIFE ON A SOUTHERN COTTON PLANTATION

In 1860 about 32% of the population in the South were slaves

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About 1 in 3 were slaves

In 1860, about 2% of African Americans in the South were free

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African Americans used religion, friendships and music to endure the cruel conditions of slavery

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SPIRITUALS – religious folk songs

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“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”

Families were important to slaves

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But families were often divided and split up

NAT TURNER – an African American who believed that God wanted him free the slaves in any manner possible

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NaT Turner REBELLION

Nat Turner organized a slave rebellion in Virginia, 1831

The rebellion failed and killed 57 white men, women and children

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Discovering NaT Turner

The Turner Rebellion made southern slave owners even more fearful to revolts and cracked down on the slaves – about 200 slaves killed in revenge

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