Description:

Illustration of cotton gin with black operative, from Elegancies of Jamaica, by Rev J Lindsay. Cotton was grown on plantations on the Caribbean islands, but it was the southern states of America that became the main producers.This machine, called a cotton gin,for cleaning the seeds from the cotton fibre. The development ofthe cotton gin, hitherto a slow and expensive hand process, led to a huge expansion in cotton growing in America and a rise in the demand for slaves there.

Creator: Rev J Lindsay

Date: 1758 - 1771

Copyright: Copyright BCC Museum