Hunter-gatherers were people who a. hunted animals and collected berries and vegetation. b. gathered materials for thatching their roofs. c. hunted for suitable places to raise families. d. started farming villages and grew crops.

while it was true that the cotton gin reduced the labor of removing seeds, it did not reduce the need for slaves to grow and pick the cotton.

explanation:

before eli whitney's invention of the cotton gin, picking and cleaning cotton was a slow, labor-intensive job. workers, usually slaves, had to pick the seeds from the cotton fibers by hand. this invention made it possible to grow large amounts of cotton on big farms and make money.