From Columbus to the Cotton Gin: The Crop That Changed a Nation
In this edition of the American Agriculture History Minute, Mark Oppold shares a pivotal chapter in American farming—how cotton became one of the nation’s most transformative crops.
When Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492, he discovered cotton growing wild. It wasn’t long before the crop found its way into American soil, with the first known cotton seeds planted in Florida by 1556. From there, cultivation expanded steadily. By 1616, colonists were harvesting cotton along Virginia’s James River.
But it was in 1793 when Eli Whitney revolutionized the cotton industry with the invention of the cotton gin. This simple yet powerful machine drastically increased production efficiency. In just a decade, the value of America’s cotton crop skyrocketed from $150,000 to over $8 million—cementing cotton as a cornerstone of the U.S. agricultural economy.
Cotton’s influence still echoes today in American farming history and innovation.
? That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute.
Mark Oppold reporting.