Don’t Know Much About® the Cotton Gin: A TED-Ed Lesson

I am very excited to introduce my first contribution to Ted-Ed: “Lessons Worth Sharing.”

This is a relatively new venture that aims to bring interesting and exciting animated lessons to classrooms around the world and was created by the people who brought you the TED Conferences “Ideas Worth Spreading.”

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.  In this video, I discuss  innovation, while warning of unintended consequences.