Mini-DBQ: Cotton Gin and its Effects-Historical Turning Point Analysis

This mini-DBQ has multiple classroom uses. It can serve as a formative or final assessment in a unit on the antebellum United States, the causes/origins of sectionalism/the Civil War, or economic developments in the early USA. It can also serve as an introduction to DBQs and DBQ writing, or a class activity to examine the cotton gin and its historical significance.

The assignment contains a brief historical context on the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney and a writing prompt that asks students to make a claim explaining how the invention of the cotton gin was a turning point in US history. It includes 7 documents, mixing primary and secondary sources. Notably it includes charts and graphs about the economic impacts of the cotton gin, a map on the expansion of slavery, and sources on the effects on labor and early industrialization in Lowell. Each source is accompanied by a quick evaluation question and 1 analysis question to help guide student reading and argument building. The documents were edited for clarity, vocabulary, and approachability.

Also included are 2 planning pages with directions and sentence starters for each part of the written response, a writing page, and a detailed three level scoring rubric based on four grading criteria.

This assignment/activity helps students develop an argument based on historical documents, use evidence, and organize supporting ideas in service of a central claim.