The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 revolutionized cotton production in the United States. This machine made it much easier and quicker to separate seeds from the cotton fiber, leading to a surge in cotton production in the South. As a result, there was a growing demand for cotton, which in turn fueled the expansion of plantation-style agriculture. This increased dependence on slavery in the South caused tension between the industrialized North, where slavery was abolished or on the decline, and the agrarian South, leading to conflicts that ultimately contributed to the outbreak of the American Civil War.
