Whitney’s invention altered Southern economy by increasing the profit the plantation owner would get by raising and producing cotton. Whitney received a patent for his invention in 1794 but it did not guarantee him much profit. One of the reasons for the loss of expected profit was the decision to set up the ginning stations. Another reason was that the design of the Cotton Gin was simple and easy to imitate leading to Whitney losing money on the many other versions of his invention. The patent did not do well in preventing Whitney’s loss of profit because the other farmers claimed that their versions were actually “new” inventions (Schur).
The Cotton Gin had major effects on the Southern economy. The production of cotton double every ten years after 1800 because now more time could be pot toward growing and picking the cottonseeds rather than separating the cotton fiber from the seed casing. Cotton demand led to the development of other inventions to spin and weave the cotton. By mid-century, seventy-five percent of the world’s cotton was coming from North America and the South was supplying sixty percent of the United States exports