Importance+of+Agriculture-rindi

Despite the trend of industrial and urban growth, agriculture still remained the number one economic activity. Farming employed more people and produced more wealth than any other kind of work. Farming was very important in the South because there were not very many cities and less industry. Removing cotton seeds took up the whole day and it was to be done by hand. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin- gin being short for engine. The gin quickly and efficiently removed the seeds from the cotton pods. Cotton was a huge export in the 1860's. In fact it was two-thirds of the total export trade.