Industrial Revolution, Mechanical Reaper, Steel Plow, Cotton Gin

1. Industrial Revolution in America part II
How do advances in agriculture lead
to an increase in Westward
Expansion?

3. Steel Plow: John Deere
• In 1837 John Deere invents the first steel plow in
Illinois
• The blade is polished so the clay in the western
soil will not stick to the blade
• Farming becomes easier in many parts of the
West during the period of expansion- farmers
who are in the west benefit from this new
technology- tilling the soil for planting becomes
easier
• Westward Expansion continues to increase

7. Mechanical Reaper:
Cyrus McCormick and others
• 1834- Replaces harvesting grain with hand tools
• McCormick buys the rights to some of his
competitors ideas and begins producing a model
that is successful in the west
• Crops could be cut far faster than before, and with
fewer farm hands to pay
• Displaced farm workers joined America's westward
expansion and contributed to the industrialization
of the U.S. economy
• More soldiers available for the Union war effort

9. McCormick Reaper

10. Reaping Machine 1833: Obed Hussey

11. How does the Cotton Gin affect Slavery and
Westward Expansion?
• The Cotton Gin makes it easier to “clean” the
seeds out of the harvested cotton
• Now that this time-consuming part of the process
is made cheaper, easier and quicker- more
enslaved people are forced to plant and harvest
cotton to keep up with the increasing demand
from factories in the North and in Europe
• 1. This technology breathes new life into the
slavery system of the U.S. : more slavery
• 2. This makes it cheaper to expand plantation
labor into the west: more slavery

12. Roller Gin

13. The Cotton Gin: Eli Whitney