Category: Public (Page 7 of 8)

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

By Alec

Alec Custer

2/17/15

HIS 245 Shrout

Group A: Historiography

“Working with Networks”

Writing about the Communities and Celebrities of the American Revolution

Only during the last decade has the term “social network” entered the public vernacular as a moniker for websites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace that connect people online. Social networks more broadly, however, have been an area of interest for historians, sociologists, and scholars of other disciplines for much longer. In their essay “Network Analysis, Culture, and the Problem of Agency”, Mustafa Emirbayer and Jeff Goodwin describe network analysis in the context of academia as “a broad strategy for investigating social structure … [which] rejects all attempts to explain human behavior or social processes solely in terms of the categorical attributes of actors … [and] directs attention exclusively to the overall structure of network ties.”[1] Unsurprisingly, a “broad strategy” lends itself to a broad range of applicability; just one of the myriad historical subjects of network analysis thus far has been the American Revolution. In this essay, I aim to use two applications of network analysis to this very field in conjunction with Emirbayer and Goodwin’s critique of this “broad strategy” to piece together an understanding of the state of modern studies of the American Revolution, namely those which feature social networks as their primary framework.

Though Michael Warner’s 1986 piece “Franklin and the Letters of the Republic” does not explicitly mention or apply the method of network analysis, it is nonetheless an investigation into the webs of communication that catalyzed and facilitated the American Revolution. Warner zooms in upon the community of politically influential male colonists whose shared writings constitute the “republic of letters”, and places founding father Benjamin Franklin at the center of the network. In focusing on Franklin’s actions and motivations in particular, Warner addresses and perhaps overcompensates for what Emirbayer and Goodwin will claim in 1994 to be the major weakness of network analysis: accounting for agency. The two authors point out that networks, in their focus on the patterns of relationships formed by individuals, ignore the fact that “agency and structure interpenetrate with one another in all individual units (as well as complexes) of empirical action”.[2] They cite two watershed moments in American sociology, the first being a post-1940s transition from focusing on the social group to focusing on the individual, and the second a much more recent redirection of attention back from the personal to the systemic.[3] Warner’s writing on Benjamin Franklin’s figurehead status within the Republic of Letters strikes me as caught in-between these two turning points. On one hand, Warner’s ultimate goal is to position Franklin as an ideal “man of letters” acting within the “republic of letters”, which is in itself an acknowledgment of Franklin’s role within a network of communication whose influence surpassed even this founding father’s. At the same time, Warner puts the spotlight so directly on Franklin that in the process of establishing the importance of a single node, he largely dismisses the other, surrounding nodes. Warner thus addresses, a limited degree, Emirbayer and Goodwin’s concern for the agency of individuals in networks, but limits himself to the agency of single actor rather than that of the whole cast. Such an approach is perhaps indicative of the transformations taking place within the field at the time of Warner’s writing (and which are still continuing today), toward a perspective in which the individual’s role must be weighed against the role of the various systems of which he or she was a member.

A much more recent piece by Kieran Healy demonstrates what may be the product of Emirbayer and Goodwin’s “second watershed.” In his blog post “Using Metadata to find Paul Revere”, Healy directly utilizes the quantitative tools of network analysis, in this case to generate data showing the connectedness of revolutionaries based on co-memberships in various organizations.[4] Though Healy does end up arguing that Paul Revere was one of the key players of the American Revolution based on his high marks on tests of network centrality, his post is actually more of a showcase of the utility of metadata and network analysis for studying both individuals and groups. Healy emphasizes both the promises and pitfalls of using a simple table of memberships, a mere “sliver of metadata”, to conjure “a social network between individuals, a sense of the degree of connection between organizations, and some strong hints of who the key players are [in the network.]”.[5] Healy’s cautiously optimistic treatment of methods of network analysis is crucial, for it reveals that even almost three decades since Warner’s article, the proper usage of social networks in studying the American Revolution and history in general is still being negotiated. Healy’s treatment of Paul Revere as not the but an important figure does suggest at least a minor shift away from Warner’s own Franklin-centric interpretation, and perhaps toward a more dualistic view of the Revolution as a product of both powerful individuals and equally powerful organizations. Emirbayer and Goodwin actually point to this compromise as one of the strengths of network analysis, for it acknowledges that “individual and group behavior … cannot be fully understood independently of one another” and works to “bridge the ‘micro-macro gap’” between micro- and macro-sociology.[6]

It should be noted, though, that the entire purpose of Healy’s network analysis (aside from just demonstrating its power) was not to draw conclusions about the network as a whole but to identify Paul Revere as a central node. The tendency amongst historians to look for “power players” in networks and communities, while on the decline, doesn’t seem to have died out yet. This very tendency, which I learned in the process of writing this paper is more formally known as “great man theory”[7], has dominated my own interpretation of the American Revolution. Throughout elementary, middle, and high school my instructors and textbooks have focused on the bigwigs: Washington and Jefferson, Franklin and Revere, Adams and Hancock. However, the three writings which have fueled the analysis of this essay suggest that support for the “great man theory”, while still prominent, may be waning – or at least that its scope must soon make space for “great networks”, as well.

[1] Emirbayer, Mustafa, and Jeff Goodwin. 1994. ‘Network Analysis, Culture, And The Problem Of Agency’. American Journal Of Sociology 99 (6), 1414.

[2] Emirbayer and Goodwin, 1443-1444.

[3] Emirbayer and Goodwin, 1416-1417.

[4] Healy, Kieran. 2013. ‘Using Metadata To Find Paul Revere’. Kieranhealy.Org. http://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/.

[5] Healy.

[6] 1417-1418.

[7] Dictionary.com, s.v. “Great Man Theory,” accessed February 16, 2015, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/great%20man%20theory.

Works Cited

Dictionary.com, s.v. “Great Man Theory,” accessed February 16, 2015, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/great%20man%20theory.

Emirbayer, Mustafa, and Jeff Goodwin. 1994. ‘Network Analysis, Culture, And The Problem Of Agency’. American Journal Of Sociology 99 (6).

Healy, Kieran. 2013. ‘Using Metadata To Find Paul Revere’. Kieranhealy.Org. http://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/.

Warner, Michael. 1986. ‘Franklin And The Letters Of The Republic’. Representations 16 (1).

      

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

By Kurt Vidmer

Digital Archive Assessment

Avery, Kurt, Wilson and Aidan

The Newberry Library’s “Digital Collections for Classroom-Representing the American Revolution, 1768–1893,” is an archive of sources dedicated to making sources pertaining to the American Revolution available for students. The main focus of this archive is to analyze the historical impacts of the American Revolution and its implications upon historical teachings. It also tracks the evolution of the way the American Revolution was taught as America continued to progress. It is a very comprehensive archive containing a wide variety of sources and perspectives.

We used three criteria to assess the archive:

1. Critical review
   1. What point of view does the archive present?
   2. Quality of primary sources
2. User Interface
   1. How is it set up?
   2. Does it enhance your experience of the primary documents?
   3. Aesthetics
3. Utility
   1. Where/how do we see this collection being useful?

Critical Review

Perspectives

In their introduction, the curators ask: “How did people interpret the events of the American Revolution in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?” and “In what ways has the Revolution meant different things to different people at any given time?” I was prepared to be disappointed, but the curators delivered an impressively broad range of perspectives, including patriot colonists’ point of view, views of Englishmen across the ocean, and the perspective of enslaved persons.

Though the authors are careful to explicitly state the point of views representing in their first set of documents describing colonial reaction to the revolution. The curators write:

“Two points are worth noting: First, both of these texts present the perspectives of people who resisted British rule… Second, the events to which these writers respond occurred in the years before the military conflict actually began in 1775. It is only in retrospect, knowing the Revolution would soon begin, that historians can look to these sources for evidence of the cultural and political climate that would soon lead many colonists to take up arms against British rule.”

However, such explicit disclaimers are nonexistent after that. The collection is redeemed by its effort to include primary sources from so many different people on different sides of the conflict, but it would have been helpful for the curators to continue to openly qualify the documents.

Quality of primary sources

Primary sources include broadsides, speech transcriptions, printed images, song/poems, and a map. Overall the curators provided quality sources, including sources that seem only tangentially related to the American Revolution, but actually greatly contribute to our understanding of it.

The source set representing the construction of American national identity in the 19^th century hosts some of the most interesting sources. This set is also interesting as a primary/secondary crossover source. These 19^th century sources tell the narrative arc of the revolution as it was memorialized, providing an important step for us today in monitoring our reactions to revolutionary sources—if we can see how national opinions were shaped, we can understand better why we might react the way we do today as Americans looking back at our history.

Another unconventional but highly relevant source that the curators include is James Theodore Holly’s “A Vindication of the Capacity of the Negro Race for Self-Government, and Civilized Progress, as Demonstrated by Historical Events of the Haytian Revolution.” This source brings the American Revolution into a more global perspective (beyond England), as well as acknowledging the important intellectual and strategic contributions of a minority group.

User Interface

The user interface for this collection is well-designed.

Overall, the design packages resources relating to the document sets in a way that clearly indicates the sources’ original context, as well as allowing users to search for other relevant information. The curators provided a very clear, hyperlinked table of contents which lets users quickly jump to their desired section. Each primary source image stands out on a white background, and its metadata set is easily accessible by clicking the tab just to the right of the image. Captions provide a helpful, quick summary of the image. Each source is also tagged with a variety of key words. If a user clicks on a tag, it takes them to a page with related items found in other digital collections of the Newberry Library.

Aesthetically, the interface makes good use of appropriately contrasting colors and readable fonts. The site as a whole is a little bit text-heavy in certain sections, and might do better to place primary source boxes in the text body rather than providing the summary write-up for each set and then showcasing all the primary sources in a row.

Utility

The utility of the Archive “Digital Collections for Classroom-Representing the American Revolution, 1768–1893” is to serve as a resource for students wishing to further explore the historical implications of the American Revolution. This is a very valuable asset to students because it contains multiple types of sources, such as written texts, maps, and pictures. These are all very valuable as it enables students to further strengthen their knowledge by analyzing the historical context behind a wide range of sources. This archive also includes a great amount of primary sources, further extending opportunities to analyze historical documents. It also appears that this archive caters to the high school age students, because after each source there is a list of questions to consider while reading, making it easier for a younger demographic to follow along with these sources.

      

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

By admin

Assessment by Avery, Kurt, Wilson and Aidan

The Newberry Library’s “Digital Collections for Classroom-Representing the American Revolution, 1768–1893,” is an archive of sources dedicated to making sources pertaining to the American Revolution available for students. The main focus of this archive is to analyze the historical impacts of the American Revolution and its implications upon historical teachings. It also tracks the evolution of the way the American Revolution was taught as America continued to progress. It is a very comprehensive archive containing a wide variety of sources and perspectives.

We used three criteria to assess the archive:

Critical review

• What point of view does the archive present?
• Quality of primary sources

User Interface

• How is the collection set up?
• Does the collection enhance your experience of the primary documents?
• Aesthetics

Utility

• Where/how do we see this collection being useful?

Critical Review

Perspectives

In their introduction, the curators ask: “How did people interpret the events of the American Revolution in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?” and “In what ways has the Revolution meant different things to different people at any given time?” I was prepared to be disappointed, but the curators delivered an impressively broad range of perspectives, including patriot colonists’ point of view, views of Englishmen across the ocean, and the perspective of enslaved persons.

Though the authors are careful to explicitly state the point of views representing in their first set of documents describing colonial reaction to the revolution. The curators write:

“Two points are worth noting: First, both of these texts present the perspectives of people who resisted British rule… Second, the events to which these writers respond occurred in the years before the military conflict actually began in 1775. It is only in retrospect, knowing the Revolution would soon begin, that historians can look to these sources for evidence of the cultural and political climate that would soon lead many colonists to take up arms against British rule.”

However, such explicit disclaimers are nonexistent after that. The collection is redeemed by its effort to include primary sources from so many different people on different sides of the conflict, but it would have been helpful for the curators to continue to openly qualify the documents.

Quality of primary sources

Primary sources include broadsides, speech transcriptions, printed images, song/poems, and a map. Overall the curators provided quality sources, including sources that seem only tangentially related to the American Revolution, but actually greatly contribute to our understanding of it.

The source set representing the construction of American national identity in the 19^th century hosts some of the most interesting sources. This set is also interesting as a primary/secondary crossover source. These 19^th century sources tell the narrative arc of the revolution as it was memorialized, providing an important step for us today in monitoring our reactions to revolutionary sources—if we can see how national opinions were shaped, we can understand better why we might react the way we do today as Americans looking back at our history.

Another unconventional but highly relevant source that the curators include is James Theodore Holly’s “A Vindication of the Capacity of the Negro Race for Self-Government, and Civilized Progress, as Demonstrated by Historical Events of the Haytian Revolution.” This source brings the American Revolution into a more global perspective (beyond England), as well as acknowledging the important intellectual and strategic contributions of a minority group.

User Interface

The user interface for this collection is well-designed.

Overall, the design packages resources relating to the document sets in a way that clearly indicates the sources’ original context, as well as allowing users to search for other relevant information. The curators provided a very clear, hyperlinked table of contents which lets users quickly jump to their desired section. Each primary source image stands out on a white background, and its metadata set is easily accessible by clicking the tab just to the right of the image. Captions provide a helpful, quick summary of the image. Each source is also tagged with a variety of key words. If a user clicks on a tag, it takes them to a page with related items found in other digital collections of the Newberry Library.

Aesthetically, the interface makes good use of appropriately contrasting colors and readable fonts. The site as a whole is a little bit text-heavy in certain sections, and might do better to place primary source boxes in the text body rather than providing the summary write-up for each set and then showcasing all the primary sources in a row.

Utility

The utility of the Archive “Digital Collections for Classroom-Representing the American Revolution, 1768–1893” is to serve as a resource for students wishing to further explore the historical implications of the American Revolution. This is a very valuable asset to students because it contains multiple types of sources, such as written texts, maps, and pictures. These are all very valuable as it enables students to further strengthen their knowledge by analyzing the historical context behind a wide range of sources. This archive also includes a great amount of primary sources, further extending opportunities to analyze historical documents. It also appears that this archive caters to the high school age students, because after each source there is a list of questions to consider while reading, making it easier for a younger demographic to follow along with these sources.

      

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

By admin

For my final project, I’m currently toying with the following 3 ideas, but to anyone reading this, I warmly welcome any other correlated ones.

Firstly, I think it would be interesting to examine the recruitment/membership rates of certain political groups throughout this period of history and see when certain ideologies peaked in general interest, and to try and narrow down the cause of them.

Secondly, I think literacy and education standards across America at this time could be a great topic to investigate. I can’t help but imagine that the proportion of literate people to illiterate people in certain states would say something about their societies, and I think it would be interesting to look for trends in ideologies or ways of life in less literate/educated areas vs more literate/educated ones. I’m not too sure what trends I would like to look for, but I think looking into literacy could provide some interesting insight into why people felt a certain way, or more importantly whether or not information could reach largely illiterate areas.

And finally (and this, I admit, is a very broad one), but I am interested in looking into the impact of the railroad in terms of how it changed where the new hotbeds of communication arose. I am sure that areas with the most transport to one another became larger and more replete with educated and influential individuals, but I still think there is something fascinating to be learned in the evaluation of the places that were the hubs of American social and political discourse before and after the introduction of the Railroad and whether or not they remained the same, or whether or not some fell out of fashion and any new ones came into the fray.

      

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

By Sherwood

In my final project for HIS 245, I want to study a distant relative of mine, Thomas Howard Callaway. Callaway was president of the East Tennessee & Georgia railroad immediately following the Civil War, which the Union Army had captured and used to transport soldiers and supplies. In the aftermath of the war, Callaway wrangled with the U.S. Government over the return of his property and sought reparations for war damages. He also directed a merger with a northern neighbor, the East Tennessee & Virginia. The story of Callaway and the ET&G has the potential to reveal a lot about the significance of trains to early American communications.

I am interested in leveraging my web development skills to create a historical tool or experience. Specifically, I want to build an interactive web application that allows the user to explore these topics. Hopefully, my project can be a unique manifestation of the digital humanities, which themselves are growing and changing daily.

My first idea was a digital diorama— a static window displaying a hand-drawn scene featuring various objects, some static and others animated, with which users might interact and reveal relevant information. Maybe users could shuffle through the items on Callaway’s desk, or investigate the fixtures on a 19^th century map? The digital diorama would allow me to employ both my historical and technological skills, and explore my interest in drawing and creative software like Photoshop.

Another idea I had was a digital timeline— a series of points associated with primary source documents illustrating the narrative of the ET&G litigation in chronological order.

One of the limitations of the web application as a medium is that the historical value would be largely experiential. Because limited written content is necessary, users are dependent upon the act of exploring to learn. This could make the site either really compelling, or not substantive at all. I am going to try to achieve the former.

      

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

By admin

I am very interested in food and the restaurant industry, and have a dream to someday own and operate my own restaurant or catering business. I would therefore like to research the history of the restaurant industry in Davidson, North Carolina. I would be investigating the history of establishments that thrived in Davidson, and investigating why those that left Davidson or failed met different fates. Included in this project might be a side-investigation of the history of Vail Commons, where I eat and am a paid employee.

If this doesn’t work because it is not closely enough tied to communication technology, I could also research the history of food laws in North Carolina.

Another possible topic of study is rather quirky (but that is what keeps me interested!) I was surprised the other day when my friend, who is an international student from China, remarked that, “nobody in China goes to the gym like people in America!” I was inspired by this comment to think about the history of the “work-out” and “bodybuilding” culture in America, and the spread of gyms. I would have to narrow this topic down and relate it somehow to communication. I could possibly study the advertisement campaigns that contribute to this focus on body image in our culture.

My third possible topic is the history of the post office at Davidson College. I could talk about its beginnings, i.e. where it was first located, and about its expansion as the college grew. I could also investigate whether or not the post office played a significant role in the college’s expansion.

      

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

By Cordelia

Three topics I may decide to pursue further are as follows:

1. The history of the architecture surrounding us today at Davidson College, notably the history of Chambers and the namesakes of the dorms and other academic buildings. The Davidson College Archive will most likely be my primary source of information in this endeavor, but I’d like to explore not only the original architecture and floor plans, but how the buildings have changed over time in purpose and appearance.

2. The history of political representation of women in the United States as cross-referenced with the liberties provided to the gender by law. As in, how “equal” a woman is defined to be in comparison to a man will be taken into account when looking at the number of women in leadership positions in government. For example, in the 18^th century, women were not given the right to vote, nor, in many instances, allowed to own property, and were thereby given no representation in political decisions.

3. The history of mass media bias in the United States, beginning with those in the antebellum period and tying in with the data found today, in an effort to determine whether the framing has changed to a large degree. This can also be an exploration in the public’s trust of mass media and how that has changed over time.

      

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

By Eleanor

I’m not sure what topic I want to research for my final project quite yet. I have some previous familiarity with the Text Encoding Initiative and the use of XML markup for digitizing manuscripts and I’m definitely interested in learning more about that process. It would be cool if the digital component of my final project could incorporate those techniques. I also like the idea of setting up a virtual museum of images and/or documents.

I find the printing press both as a physical object, as as a means of communication, to be particularly intriguing. I’d like to learn more about how people used and thought about the printing press in early America.

I think it’s really cool when you can engage with history by forming personal connections to it. I live in New Hampshire, I was born in central Virginia, I’m studying here at Davidson — researching the local history (and impact of communication technology thereupon) of any of those places in early America would be interesting. My dad’s side of the family lives in Wales, so studying something about how/where/why Welsh immigrants moving to America settled, formed communities, and communicated during the colonial era could also be neat.

We’ve talked quite a bit in class about how developments in communication technology allowed more people to join the “public sphere”. The woman’s commonplace book that we discussed in the first week was really interesting to me. I’d like to do more research about women’s voices in early America and how they made use of the new communication technology. What were women writing at the time? How were they doing it? Who was their audience? etc.

      

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

By Kurt Vidmer

1. One possible topic for my research project would be to track the origins of the North/South divide, and events leading up to the Civil War. I would pay close attention to the debate over slavery, while also examining the economic and cultural differences that contributed to this conflict. I would also closely analyze various time period leaders and their influence on the divide. I would use the Davidson Library resources such as JSTORE and EBSCO to gather information. Also, I will utilize the Davidson Archives to see how the North/South divide affected Davidson.

2. Another possible topic for my research project would be to analyze the communication networks throughout the various regions of the early United States. I would look at the trade routes that were established along waterways and wagon trails, and attempt to locate specific trading posts throughout the country. It would be a goal to find some types of lists or inventory as to the type of products that passed through these trading posts. I would also use many historical maps throughout this process. I would use the Davidson library resources, and also the Davidson archive to locate maps.

3. One other possible topic would be to track the development of various colleges and universities throughout the country. I would analyze geographic location, along with progression of curriculum offered. This would allow me to trace the transition from religious teachings a wider variety of fields. I also would pay attention to the regions with quicker developments and those with slower developments. I would utilize Online archives and articles and primary sources offered by the Davidson library resources.

      

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

By admin

Matthew Hunt

HIS 245

02.05.15

PA #1

One possible topic for my final paper is researching the integration of African American athletes in athletic teams at Davidson College. I will take a look at documents regarding the athletic teams here on campus to determine when sports began to allowed African American athletes and compare that to data of integration of black college athletes across the Southern United States. I will take a look at all sports on campus to determine which sports integrated first, but a majority of my project will focus on the Davidson Football team. I plan to use the college archives in order to receive the necessary documents and photos for my project.

Another possible research point will be centered around the telegraph and the influence it had in society. While I will briefly discuss the major contributions I will focus on the effect it had in war. I will discuss the impact of the telegraph and the importance it held in determining war strategies and how it changed dynamics of real time adjustment on the battle. I will also take a look at espionage and how breaking codes or intercepting a telegram would give one side an advantage. I plan to use research guides such as EBSCO and JSTOR.

A third possible area of research will be to look at the influence the cotton gin and the effect Eli Whitney’s invention had on the production of cotton across the south. I plan to investigate on whether this more efficient method for cotton increased the amount of slaves that worked picking cotton in the field because the demand increased as the methods for producing became easier and cheaper. For this research I also plan to use the research guides provided by the school. I also plan to look at the college archives to see if there are any letters from this area discussing the cotton gin and its impact.