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How inventions change history (for better and for worse) - Kenneth C. Davis

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Invented in 1793, the cotton gin changed history for good and bad. By allowing one field hand to do the work of 10, it powered a new industry that brought wealth and power to the American South -- but, tragically, it also multiplied and prolonged the use of slave labor. Kenneth C. Davis lauds innovation, while warning us of unintended consequences.

Before the cotton gin was widely available, the American slave population was 700,000 in 1790. By 1860, the narrator says, the slave population was:

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