Spindles

The existence of this missing panel is known only through its listing on the checklist that accompanied the Struggle series’ first showing in New York in December 1956. Its title suggests the insidious relationship between technology, economics, and enslavement. Spindles are straight wooden spikes used to spin and twist fibers. They were essential components in the invention of the cotton gin, patented by Eli Whitney in 1794, a new machine that dramatically increased cotton production. Consequently, cotton became the nation’s most lucrative industry, and the burgeoning market for this commodity fueled the maintenance and expansion of slavery, particularly in the American South.