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Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin in 1793, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South.
A model of a 19th-century cotton gin on display at the Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden, Connecticut. A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine" [1] [2] —is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation. [3]
The cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, revolutionized slave-based agriculture in the Southern United States. The technological and industrial history of the United States describes the emergence of the United States as one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world in the 19th and 20th centuries.
This invention -- Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin on March 14, 1794. For the first time, American plantation owners would be able to harvest large amounts of cotton profitably.
Until the mid-20th century, successive generations of the Whitney family had a significant impact on American history. Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793 enabled cotton seeds to be removed 50 times faster, a breakthrough which led the country to become home to 75% of the world's cotton supply. [3]
Mulberry Grove Plantation, located north of Port Wentworth, Chatham County, Savannah, was a rice plantation, notable as the location where Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. [2] Once a thriving plantation, comprising, in 1798, some
Eli Whitney is generally credited with the idea and the practical application, but both are incorrect attributions. Based on his reputation as the inventor of the cotton gin , the US government gave him a contract in 1798 for 10,000 muskets to be produced within two years.
In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin and later received a patent on March 14, 1794. [31] Whitney's cotton gin could have possibly ignited a revolution in the cotton industry and the rise of "King Cotton" as the main cash crop in the South. However, it never made him rich.