Good question. I haven’t read anything indicating this, and of course the famous breakthrough in cotton productivity, Whitney’s cotton gin, was invented in 1793, well after textile mechanization was underway in Britain. So my guess is no. In fact, I’ve always sort of assumed that it was the other way around: efficiencies in later stages of the process created demand for higher productivity in earlier stages. Flying shuttle (1733) doubles the productivity of weavers, which creates more demand for thread; spinning machines (1760s) increase the productivity of thread-making, which creates more demand for unspun cotton; cotton gin (again, 1793) provides the cotton. But all that is based on a fairly superficial knowledge of the relevant history. (We should get Anton to weigh in.)
Another thought: cotton is not the only thread. If cotton had not been made cheap, might textile mechanization have taken off based on linen or wool?
Good question. I haven’t read anything indicating this, and of course the famous breakthrough in cotton productivity, Whitney’s cotton gin, was invented in 1793, well after textile mechanization was underway in Britain. So my guess is no. In fact, I’ve always sort of assumed that it was the other way around: efficiencies in later stages of the process created demand for higher productivity in earlier stages. Flying shuttle (1733) doubles the productivity of weavers, which creates more demand for thread; spinning machines (1760s) increase the productivity of thread-making, which creates more demand for unspun cotton; cotton gin (again, 1793) provides the cotton. But all that is based on a fairly superficial knowledge of the relevant history. (We should get Anton to weigh in.)
Another thought: cotton is not the only thread. If cotton had not been made cheap, might textile mechanization have taken off based on linen or wool?