Nation Building and Sectionalism — Test

Question 1 • US History

How did the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 affect the labor of enslaved people in the South?

Answer

Although the cotton gin affected the tasks performed by enslaved workers, the number of workers needed remained constant.

Because the cotton gin was so efficient, plantation owners needed fewer enslaved workers to produce cotton.

Because the cotton gin processed cotton so quickly, farmers needed increasing numbers of enslaved workers.

Although the cotton gin did not alter the tasks performed by enslaved workers, the number of workers sharply increased.

Explanation

The cotton gin made it much faster to separate seeds from short-staple cotton, making cotton production more profitable and encouraging farmers to grow more of it. As plantations expanded, owners enslaved increasing numbers of people to plant, tend, and harvest the cotton. So the correct choice is C, because the gin’s efficiency increased the demand for enslaved labor rather than reducing it.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.

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