This evening I was looking back at some resources that I have for teaching about Eli Whitney and the cotton gin. Included in that list was a YouTube video that demonstrated how the cotton gin worked. Next to that video I found a TED-Ed lesson titled How Inventions Change History (For Better or Worse). The lesson is centered around Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin and the impact that it had on slavery in the southern United States.

In addition to considering the impact of the cotton gin, students who view this TED-Ed lesson are asked to consider the impact of other inventions on the world.