A. Faster and cheaper production of cloth raised the demand for cotton plants, which increased the need for enslaved workers on Southern plantations.
Textile factories started employing mechanized looms and weavers which created cloth more quickly. It resulted in a higher demand for cotton which was met with the invention of the cotton gin.
The function of the cotton gin was to separate the cotton fiber from the seeds increasing the speed which cotton fiber could be produced. And as a result, more cotton production was demanded.