Cotton Gin Consequences

   Thank you very much for watching the debate last night and giving some feedback on how you thought the candidates did.  As we get closer to Election Day the impact of the debates increases and I think you will see both candidates handle themselves in a different manner then last night.
  
 In class today we examined how inventions can have both intended and unintended consequences. Alfred Nobel's invention of dynamite was intended to improve the safety of miners but during his lifetime he saw others use his creation as a destructive weapon.

  Eli Whitney's cotton gin was intended to improve the working conditions of slaves as well as white farmers who grew their own cotton.  The cotton gin would be a leading catalyst for the expansion of not only slavery but also the United States itself.

For homework tonight complete the table on cotton production and the growth of slavery.