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slavery becomes critical to the Southern economy.
奴隸制變得對南方經濟極其重要。
Each slave is now 50 times more profitable. A slave who sold for $300 before the cotton gin goes for nearly 2,000 by 1860.
現在每個奴隸可以創造比以前多50倍的利潤，在軋棉機問世前只賣300美元的奴隸到1860年可以賣到近2000美元。
People don't really realize this, but slavery was actually on the decline in the South prior to the invention of the cotton gin,
人們沒有真正意識到這一點，在軋棉機發明之前奴隸制在南方實際是在逐漸衰退的。
but then once the cotton gin made it so practical to grow cotton,
然而，軋棉機使得棉花種植如此有利可圖。
all of a sudden, every farmer in the South wanted to plant as much cotton as possible. But overproduction is destroying the land.
突然間，所有南方農場主都想盡可能地多種棉花，然而過度種植導致了土地貧瘠。
Cotton heads west in search of fertile soil, bringing slavery with it. But antislavery forces in the North want to keep the frontier free.
棉花種植向西部肥沃的土地進發并帶去了奴隸制，而北方的廢奴勢力則要維護邊遠地區的自由。
The stage is set for the first battles in the war over slavery. Cotton is changing the way Americans live. In time, it will blow the nation apart.
廢奴戰爭的第一槍即將打響，棉花改變了美國人的生活方式，不久以后它還會帶來國家的分裂。
For the South, cotton is a gold mine. Now the North wants a piece of the action. It's a partnership that makes everyone rich, based on a new machine, the power loom.
對南方來說棉花就是金礦，而現在北方也想來分一杯羹，這種互利共贏的合作關系建立在一種新型機器的基礎上--動力織布機。
Raw cotton comes in, finished cloth goes out. All under one roof.
運進來的是粗制棉絨送出去的是精美的布料，一切都在一個車間內完成。
The modern factory is born. Lowell,Massachusetts, is called the city of spindles, a textiles boomtown.
現代工廠誕生了，馬薩諸塞州的洛威爾，這個紡織業發達的城市有著"紡錘之城"的美稱，
Population explodes from 200 in 1820 to nearly 20,000 in just 15 years.
人口在短短15年內由1820年的200人驟增至近20000，
More than a third of the town works in the mills. 85% are single women between 15 and 25.
城里超過三分之一的人在工廠里工作，其中85%是15歲至25歲的單身女性。
Harriet Robinson is ten. When her father dies, she goes to work at the mill.
哈麗特·羅賓遜只有10歲，父親死后她就進了工廠。
I can see myself now, racing down the alley, between the spinning frames, carrying in front of me a bobbin box bigger than I was.
那情景歷歷在目，我在走廊里來回穿梭，奔走于紡機之間，搬著個比自己還大的線筒箱。
n. 織布機
n. 若隱若現
vi.
