Lakwete shows how indentured British, and later enslaved Africans, built and used foot-powered models to process the cotton they grew for export. After Eli Whitney patented his wire-toothed gin, southern mechanics transformed it into the saw gin, offering stiff competition to northern manufacturers.

"In graphic novel format, tells the story of how Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, and the effects it had on the South"--Provided by publisher.

Fact and fiction about the process that takes cotton from the field to shipping to market.

His first job was in a cotton gin at the age of nine. Today as an octogenarian, A. L. Vandergriff continues his life-long commitment to advancing the technology of the industry he loves. Considered by some to be the seminal figure in designing gin plants to handle machine-picked cotton, Vandergriff is widely known for his many important contributions to the cotton ginning industry. All contemporary high-capacity gin plants have been influenced by his innovative designs. Vandergriff describes in detail the various modifications that he has made to improve different components of the gin stand. He also discusses some of the contributions made by others either independently or as modifications of his research. The current phase of his research culminated with the development of the 198 saw gin, the first twenty-bale-per-hour gin stand.

Explains the importance of cotton and the mechanics of the cotton gin, patented by Eli Whitney in 1794, and describes how this invention enabled the expansion of the American slave trade.

After the Revolutionary War, Americans quickly began to establish their own industries, eager to move on from the embargos placed on them during British rule. One agricultural industry that flourished was the growing and ginning of cotton, its success largely coming from the invention of the cotton gin. Most Americans believe that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. Southern folklore tells a different story-that a young blacksmith from South Carolina, Henry Ogden Holmes, patented the first practical cotton gin. It was a continuous-flow rip-saw-toothed gin, much more efficient than Whitney's first gin. Who Really Invented the Cotton Gin? delves into the history and folklore surrounding the first cotton gins. Iowa State University Professor Emeritus Wesley F. Buchele, who taught farm machinery design for forty-three years, and William D. Mayfield, a longtime expert in cotton ginning technology, use their technical and investigative expertise to share what made Holmes' and Whitney's gins different, who came up with what design first and patented it, and who really did invent the first practical cotton gin. This book is a fascinating look at the history behind one of agriculture's most significant innovations.