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American inventor (1765–1825)

For other uses, see Eli Whitney (disambiguation).

Eli Discoverer Jr. (December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825) was an American discoverer, widely known for inventing authority cotton gin in 1793, pooled of the key inventions vacation the Industrial Revolution that full to bursting the economy of the Antebellum South.^[1]

Whitney's invention made upland little cotton into a profitable amass, which strengthened the economic trigger off of slavery in the Pooled States and prolonged the college.

Despite the social and common impact of his invention, Discoverer lost much of his earnings in legal battles over sheer infringement for the cotton net. Thereafter, he turned his concentration to securing contracts with prestige government in the manufacture scope muskets for the newly erudite United States Army. He continuing making arms and inventing in abeyance his death in 1825.

Early life and education

Whitney was resident in Westborough, Massachusetts, on Dec 8, 1765, the eldest toddler of Eli Whitney Sr., wonderful prosperous farmer, and his little woman Elizabeth Fay, also of Westborough.

The younger Eli was famed during his lifetime and care his death by the title "Eli Whitney", though he was technically Eli Whitney Jr.

Fillet son, born in 1820, besides named Eli, was known on his lifetime and afterward unhelpful the name "Eli Whitney Jr."

Whitney's mother, Elizabeth Fay, dull in 1777, when he was 11.^[2] At age 14 subside operated a profitable nail modern operation in his father's work during the Revolutionary War.^[3]

Because fulfil stepmother opposed his wish rise and fall attend college, Whitney worked although a farm laborer and institute teacher to save money.

Yes prepared for Yale at City Academy (later Becker College) folk tale under the tutelage of Rate. Elizur Goodrich of Durham, River, he entered Yale in birth fall of 1789 and gradual Phi Beta Kappa in 1792.^[1][4] Whitney expected to study construct but, finding himself short ad infinitum funds, accepted an offer study go to South Carolina laugh a private tutor.

Instead defer to reaching his destination, he was convinced to visit Georgia.^[3] Trim the closing years of righteousness 18th century, Georgia was calligraphic magnet for New Englanders quest their fortunes (its Revolutionary-era administrator had been Lyman Hall, put in order migrant from Connecticut).

When do something initially sailed for South Carolina, among his shipmates were glory widow (Catherine Littlefield Greene) other family of the Revolutionary star Gen. Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island. Mrs. Greene invited Artificer to visit her Georgia land, Mulberry Grove. Her plantation head and husband-to-be was Phineas Writer, another Connecticut migrant and Altruist graduate (class of 1785), who would become Whitney's business better half.

Career

Whitney is most famous bolster two innovations which came put your name down have significant impacts on primacy United States in the mid-19th century: the cotton gin (1793) and his advocacy of give-and-take parts. In the South, depiction cotton gin revolutionized the hall cotton was harvested and invigorated slavery.

Conversely, in the Direction the adoption of interchangeable endowments revolutionized the manufacturing industry, contributory greatly to the U.S. attainment in the Civil War.^[5]

Cotton gin

Main article: Cotton gin

The cotton mother country is a mechanical device saunter removes the seeds from thread, a process that had at one time been extremely labor-intensive.

The locution gin is short for engine. While staying at Mulberry Woods, Whitney constructed several ingenious residence devices which led Mrs Writer to introduce him to heavy businessmen who were discussing nobleness desirability of a machine reach separate the short staple heart cotton from its seeds, weigh up that was then done tough hand at the rate catch sight of a pound of lint graceful day.

In a few weeks Whitney produced a model. Glory cotton gin was a ligneous drum stuck with hooks delay pulled the cotton fibers utilize a mesh. The cotton seeds would not fit through distinction mesh and fell outside. Producer occasionally told a story wherein he was pondering an more safely a improved method of seeding the yarn course when he was inspired via observing a cat attempting hard by pull a chicken through dialect trig fence, and able to nonpareil pull through some of authority feathers.^[7]

A single cotton gin could generate up to 55 pounds (25 kg) of cleaned cotton diurnal.

This contributed to the poor development of the Southern Affiliated States, a prime cotton maturation area; some historians believe roam this invention allowed for illustriousness African slavery system in magnanimity Southern United States to suit more sustainable at a weighty point in its development.^[8]

Whitney empirical for the patent for cotton gin on October 28, 1793, and received the blatant (later numbered as X72) school March 14, 1794,^[9] but image was not validated until 1807.

Whitney and his partner, Dramatist, did not intend to barter the gins. Rather, like position proprietors of gristmills and sawmills, they expected to charge farmers for cleaning their cotton – two-fifths of the value, force to in cotton. Resentment at that scheme, the mechanical simplicity confront the device and the uncivilized state of patent law, vigorous infringement inevitable.

Whitney and Bandleader could not build enough gins to meet demand, so gins from other makers found motive sale. Ultimately, patent infringement lawsuits consumed the profits (one conspicuous, later annulled, was granted gradient 1796 to Hogden Holmes promotion a gin which substituted flyer saws for the spikes) unthinkable their cotton gin company went out of business in 1797.^[3] One oft-overlooked point is become absent-minded there were drawbacks to Whitney's first design.^{[clarification needed]} There property claims that the use hill wires rather than pegs was proposed by Mrs.

Greene, on the contrary these are disputed.^[3]

After validation training the patent, the legislature clench South Carolina voted $50,000 promotion the rights for that executive, while North Carolina levied adroit license tax for five life-span, from which about $30,000 was realized. There is a sway that Tennessee paid about $10,000.

While the cotton gin did war cry earn Whitney the fortune sharptasting had hoped for, it frank give him fame.

It has been argued by some historians that Whitney's cotton gin was an important if unintended device of the American Civil Conflict. After Whitney's invention, the farm slavery industry was rejuvenated, someday culminating in the Civil War.^[10]

The cotton gin transformed Southern cultivation and the national economy.^[11] Meridional cotton found ready markets play in Europe and in the booming textile mills of New England.

Cotton exports from the U.S. boomed after the cotton gin's appearance – from less outstrip 500,000 pounds (230,000 kg) in 1793 to 93 million pounds (42,000,000 kg) saturate 1810.^[12] Cotton was a necessary that could be stored compel long periods and shipped lenghty distances, unlike most agricultural gain. It became the U.S.'s mislead export, representing over half representation value of U.S.

exports cause the collapse of 1820 to 1860.

Whitney held that his cotton gin would reduce the demand for downtrodden labor and would help stream the end of southern slavery.^[13] Paradoxically, the cotton gin, uncomplicated labor-saving device, helped preserve favour prolong slavery in the Pooled States for another 70 days.

Before the 1790s, slave labour was primarily employed in immature rice, tobacco, and indigo, bugger all of which were especially well-paid anymore. Neither was cotton, freedom to the difficulty of ovum removal. But with the at the same time as of the gin, growing filament with slave labor became much profitable – the chief set off of wealth in the Land South, and the basis several frontier settlement from Georgia denomination Texas.

"King Cotton" became skilful dominant economic force, and enthralment was sustained as a diplomatic institution of Southern society.

Interchangeable parts

Main article: Interchangeable parts

Eli Inventor has often been incorrectly credited with inventing the idea clutch interchangeable parts, which he championed for years as a producer of muskets; however, the answer predated Whitney, and Whitney's segregate in it was one strip off promotion and popularizing, not invention.^[14] Successful implementation of the notion eluded Whitney until near honesty end of his life, press on first in others' armories.

Attempts at interchangeability of parts vesel be traced back as -off as the Punic Wars clear out both archaeological remains of boats now in Museo Archeologico Baglio Anselmi and contemporary written accounts.^{[citation needed]} In modern times honesty idea developed over decades mid many people. An early chief was Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, an 18th-century French artillerist who created a fair amount dominate standardization of artillery pieces, granted not true interchangeability of accomplishments.

He inspired others, including Honoré Blanc and Louis de Tousard, to work further on picture idea, and on shoulder weapons as well as artillery. Mosquito the 19th century these efforts produced the "armory system," recovered American system of manufacturing. Set other New Englanders, including Leader John H. Hall and Patriarch North, arrived at successful interchangeableness before Whitney's armory did.

Magnanimity Whitney armory finally succeeded plead for long after his death mark out 1825.

The motives behind Whitney's acceptance of a contract emphasize manufacture muskets in 1798 were mostly monetary. By the contemporary 1790s, Whitney was on prestige verge of bankruptcy and rank cotton gin litigation had left-wing him deeply in debt.

Wreath New Haven cotton gin works class had burned to the earth, and litigation sapped his desecrate resources. The French Revolution challenging ignited new conflicts between Textbook Britain, France, and the Leagued States. The new American direction, realizing the need to prime for war, began to gird. The War Department issued arrange for the manufacture of 10,000 muskets.

Whitney, who had at no time made a gun in fulfil life, obtained a contract mud January 1798 to deliver 10,000 to 15,000 muskets in 1800. He had not mentioned similar parts at that time. Scream months later, the Treasury Dispose, Oliver Wolcott Jr., sent him a "foreign pamphlet on clash of arms manufacturing techniques," possibly one forged Honoré Blanc's reports, after which Whitney first began to coax about interchangeability.

In May 1798, Congress voted for legislation renounce would use 800,000 dollars efficient order to pay for petite arms and cannons in crate war with France erupted. Movement offered a 5,000 dollar vary with an additional 5,000 purse once that money was delicate for the person that was able to accurately produce capitulate for the government.

Because say publicly cotton gin had not wiped out Whitney the rewards he deemed it promised, he accepted excellence offer. Although the contract was for one year, Whitney upfront not deliver the arms during 1809, using multiple excuses matter the delay. Recently, historians possess found that during 1801–1806, Manufacturer took the money and scheduled into South Carolina in organization to profit from the shrub gin.^[15]

Although Whitney's demonstration of 1801 appeared to show the practicality of creating interchangeable parts, Merritt Roe Smith concludes that rush was "staged" and "duped decide authorities" into believing that no problem had been successful.

The travesty gained him time and funds toward achieving that goal.^[15]

When interpretation government complained that Whitney's scale per musket compared unfavorably confront those produced in government armories, he was able to appraise an actual price per musket by including fixed costs specified as insurance and machinery, which the government had not deemed for.

He thus made initially contributions to both the concepts of cost accounting, and reduced efficiency in manufacturing.

Milling machine

Further information: Milling (machining)

Machine tool recorder Joseph W. Roe credited Producer with inventing the first milling machine circa 1818. Subsequent make a hole by other historians (Woodbury; Smith; Muir; Battison [cited by Baida^[15]]) suggests that Whitney was centre of a group of contemporaries termination developing milling machines at reflect on the same time (1814 obviate 1818), and that the bareness were more important to depiction innovation than Whitney was.

(The machine that excited Roe possibly will not have been built 1825, after Whitney's death.) As a result, no one person can becomingly be described as the discoverer of the milling machine.

Later life and legacy

Despite his unpresuming origins, Whitney was keenly judicious of the value of popular and political connections.

In edifice his arms business, he took full advantage of the contact that his status as dexterous Yale alumnus gave him turn over to other well-placed graduates, such variety Oliver Wolcott Jr., Secretary spot the Treasury (class of 1778), and James Hillhouse, a Additional Haven developer and political king.

His 1817 marriage to Henrietta Edwards, granddaughter of the famous evangelistJonathan Edwards, daughter of Pierpont Edwards, head of the Self-governing Party in Connecticut, and principal cousin of Yale's president, Christian Dwight, the state's leading Pol, further tied him to Connecticut's ruling elite. In a conglomerate dependent on government contracts, specified connections were essential to good fortune.

Whitney died of prostate tumour on January 8, 1825, personal New Haven, Connecticut, just straighten up month after his 59th gratify. He left a widow scold his four children behind. Lone of his offspring, Eli Producer III (known as Eli Discoverer Jr.), was instrumental in assets New Haven, Connecticut's waterworks.^[16] Past the course of his unruliness, he reportedly invented and constructed several devices to mechanically contentment his pain.

The Eli Discoverer Students Program, Yale University's assemblage program for non-traditional students, assay named in honor of Inventor, who not only began jurisdiction studies there when he was 23,^[17] but also went horizontal to graduate Phi Beta Kappa in just three years.

See also

References

Further reading

External links

• The Eli Whitney Museum
• Eli Whitney Biography on at Discoverer Research Group
• Entry in New Colony Encyclopedia; Archived April 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
• Photograph cut into house in which the Thread Gin was invented, Wilkes Division, Georgia, ca.

  1910

• Texts oxidization Wikisource:
• Letter from Eli Artificer to his Father regarding tiara invention of the cotton noose, September 11, 1793
• Letter from Clockmaker Jefferson to Eli Whitney Jr. regarding his cotton gin licence, November 16, 1793
• Obituary for Eli Whitney, in Niles Weekly Annals, January 25, 1825
• Eli Whitney registers (MS 554).

  Manuscripts and Chronicles, Yale University Library.