- A machine called a cotton gin separates seeds from cotton fibers. Shown is a replica of Eli …
(1765–1825). U.S. inventor Eli Whitney developed the cotton gin. It increased crop production so much that cotton was proclaimed to be “king.” Whitney also invented a way to manufacture a product by making many copies of its parts at once; the parts could then be assembled by any worker. This meant that many goods could be produced quickly. This important concept led to the mass production of goods—the cornerstone of modern manufacturing. Early lifeEli Whitney was born in Westboro, Massachusetts, on December 8, 1765. His father was a respected farmer. In 1789 Whitney enrolled at Yale College, where he studied science and technology. Upon graduating in 1792 he was promised a teaching job in Georgia. Whitney traveled to Savannah but the job did not work out. Stranded far from home, he was befriended by Catherine Greene, who owned a nearby plantation. Whitney soon learned of a major problem for cotton growers. Growers in the American South could not keep up with demand for cotton because cleaning cotton, to rid it of its seed, took time. Whitney came up with the idea that a machine could quickly clean the cotton. Within days he made a basic model. He finished his cotton “gin” in 1793 and patented it, or registered it as a unique invention, the next year. CareerWhitney and a partner went into business manufacturing and servicing the new gins. The cotton-cleaning machine became widely used in the South. Within seven years cotton production increased from about 3,000 bales a year to 73,000 bales—or nearly 25 times what it was before Whitney's invention. But the gin was copied by other manufacturers and Whitney found himself unable to defend his right to the invention. By 1797 he was out of business. In 1798 Whitney agreed to make 10,000 muskets, or firearms, for the U.S. government. At the time, guns were made by hand; no two were alike. Whitney designed a new gun that could be made by machines. He developed machines that made parts exactly alike; these parts were then put together by a worker. Each finished gun was an exact copy of all the others. Whitney's manufacturing model greatly improved the production of goods. He died in New Haven, Connecticut, on January 8, 1825. |