Change

Change in political, social and economic development is most easily influenced by significant historical events. In The United State's history, we can find endless events that created the country and its political beliefs and moral values that its citizens practice today, but two of the most influential events regarding the country's past racial segregation and slavery involvement was the invention of the Cotton Gin and the Missouri Compromise. Both events are referred to as turning points or revolutions in political thinking, social standing, and economic stability in relation to their involvement in the increase of slavery and racial segregation. In 1794, a man named Eli Whitney patented an invention called the Cotton Gin while employed by Catherine Greene, an independent mother and plantation owner. The machine increased cotton production exponentially by speeding up the process of pulling the cotton fibers away from the seeds. This invention was revolutionary in the fact that at the time, the southern economy had no textiles to refine the produce and little means of transportation and the south was actually moving away from the labour intensive production of cotton. However, with the help of the cotton gin; cotton soon became the leading export of the South's cotton-based agricultural economy.Though the cotton gin was a remarkably simple device it caused an explosion in textile production in the south and the textbook provides the data that “in the decade of the 1790s, cotton production increased from 3,000 bales a year to 73,000... all of which made slaves more indispensable than ever” (157). Without the cotton gin, the agricultural south economy would have collapsed and the practice of slavery would have diminished, but... ... middle of paper ... ...Missouri compromise and its threat to states rights there was a civil war which caused the death of hundreds of thousands of men, the acceptance of racial segregation in specific parts of the country and slave rebellions. Known as turning points because of the part they played in political, social, and economic change, these events; one an invention to increase cotton production and the other a solution to a congressional crisis, can also be considered revolutions in the fact that they changed the lives of every African American yesterday, today, and in the future by being an influence in the increase of slavery, racial segregation and the separation of families. Works Cited Washington, Margaret. "Modern Voices." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. A Patriots History to The United States. New York: Penguin Group, 2004. Print.