Emily Basham

Date of Lesson: 3/4/14

Eli Whitneys Cotton Gin
State Standard: 3-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of life in antebellum period, the
causes and effects of the Civil War, and the impact of Reconstruction in South Carolina.
Indicator: 3-4.2 Summarize the development of slavery in antebellum South Carolina including
the invention of the cotton gin and the subsequent expansion of and economic dependence on
slavery.

Learning Objective: The student will be able to write about the impact of the cotton gin on South
Carolina.

Essential Question: What effects did the invention of the cotton gin have upon slavery?

Assessment: The student will write a paragraph about the effect of the cotton gin on slavery in South
Carolina. The teacher will check for correctness and record in gradebook.

Activities/Procedures:
Opening: The teacher will show students a handful of cotton. The students will discuss
difficulties of cotton picking. The teacher will pass around the cotton allowing students to feel
the seeds inside.
Activities: The teacher will discuss the invention of the cotton gin, showing pictures of the
invention. The teacher will show a short video showing the cotton gin.
The class will read sections from the textbook aloud and discuss.
The teacher will discuss the word economy and how the cotton gin affected the economy in
South Carolina.
Closing: The class will discuss the question, How does the cotton gin affect slavery in South
Carolina? and brainstorm responses. After the discussion, the students will write a paragraph
response. The teacher will also pass out the study guide for the unit test and review questions.

Accommodations:
ESL: The teacher will stop and discuss read passages. The teacher will use illustrations to convey key
ideas.
Special Education: The teacher will stop periodically to discuss text read aloud. The teacher will use
illustrations to convey key ideas.
Early Finishers: The students may choose an assignment from the social studies challenge box, read
silently, finish work, or take an AR test.

Materials: cotton, pictures of cotton gin (on Promethean board), textbook, pencil, paper, study guide,
http://www.havefunwithhistory.com/movies/cottonGin.html

Questioning:
1) Create a picture describing the effects of the cotton gin on slavery. (Creating)
2) Why did South Carolinians depend on slaves? Use textual support. (Applying)
3) Was the cotton gin a good invention? Why or why not? (Evaluating)




Antebellum SC, Slavery, and Causes of the Civil War Study Guide
1. Plantation owners were part of the ____________ class in the South.
2. People were divided over taxes and ____________ before the Civil War.
3. South Carolinians felt that slavery was necessary since slaves were needed for
working in the _______________.
4. The elite class was part of the ______________. They owned large plantations
and owned many slaves to work on their plantations.
5. The invention of the cotton gin created a need for ____________ slaves to work
on plantations.
6. The goal of the abolitionist movement was to __________________in the United
States.
7. The ___________________ were forced to leave South Carolina because they
spoke out against slavery.
8. A large house with farmland is called a _______________________.
9. South Carolina field slaves picked __________________.
10. South Carolina argued that __________ was necessary to the economy and was
part of their way of life.
11. Runaway slaves used several types of strategies to run to the North, including
walking in __________, running at __________ and staying in _______ houses.
12. Slaves used _________with symbols to help them escape.
13. The __________ culture passed down stories, music, and the art of making
sweetgrass baskets through each generation.
14. The lower class worked similar jobs as slaves, but they were __________.
15. South Carolina was the ______________ state to secede from the Union.
16. _______________ invented the cotton gin, a machine that cleans out the seeds
from the cotton.
17. The time before the Civil War is known as the _________________.
18. Independent farmers, or_____________________, own small amounts of land
and work the land themselves.
19. The ______________ was run by abolitionists who wanted to help slaves escape
to the North and to Canada in secret.
20. _____________ is the practice of treating people as property to be bought and
sold and are forced to work.



Lesson 9 Assessment
The student will write a paragraph explaining the economic impact of the cotton gin on South
Carolina. The teacher will check for three accurate main details: increase in cotton production, increase
in slaves, and increase in profit. The teacher will record grade in gradebook and in an anything chart.

2/10/14 2/26/14 2/27/14 3/3/14 3/4/14 3/10/14
Student Pink & Say
3 details of
differences
Antebellum Skits
Out of 7 (5 is
passing)
3, 2, 1
Slavery
Dear
Diary

Cotton Gin The Civil War
begins
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