Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793. The cotton gin is a machine that makes it easier to harvest cotton quickly. What happened to the overall supply of cotton after 1793?
The supply went up. The supply went down.
Overall supply is the total amount of a good or service that producers make and sell. There are several things that can make overall supply go up or down. The table below shows how changes to these things might affect overall supply.
 | Resources | Number of producers or suppliers | Expected change in demand
Supply goes up | when resources cost less or are easier to get | when there are more producers or suppliers | when demand is expected to go up
Supply goes down | when resources cost more or are harder to get | when there are fewer producers or suppliers | when demand is expected to go down
Producers are people or companies that make goods or provide services. Suppliers are people or companies that sell goods or services. New inventions or technologies can also help workers produce goods and services more quickly. As a result of these changes, the supply of a good or service will often go up.
The cotton gin was a new technology that made it possible to harvest cotton much faster than before. Cotton growers were able to produce much more cotton in the same amount of time. So, the supply of cotton went up.