The cotton gin (1793) separates the cotton fibers from the seeds. The cotton still needs to be picked. Machines were eventually built to pick cotton but didn't

The cotton gin (1793) separates the cotton fibers from the seeds. The cotton still needs to be picked. Machines were eventually built to pick cotton but didn't get good until the 1950s, well after many blues and early country and western songs could be written about picking cotton. In a historical pre-echo, Ely Whitney spent a lot of time and money suing planters for making illegal copies of his cotton gin.