Eli Whitney Biography

Eli Whitney biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Eli Whitney
OCCUPATION: Inventor
BIRTH DATE: December 08, 1765
DEATH DATE: January 08, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH: Westboro, Massachusetts

PLACE OF DEATH: New Haven, Connecticut

more about Eli

Best Known For

Eli Whitney invented not only the cotton gin, which increased the production (and wealth) of the South, but also the concept of mass production.

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Eli Whitney

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Synopsis

Eli Whitney is best remembered as the inventor of the cotton gin (1793), which led to greatly increased production of the short-staple cotton grown in much of the South, making the region prosperous. The most important innovation credited to Whitney may be the concept of mass production of interchangeable parts. This idea helped inaugurate the vastly important American System of manufacture.

Profile

(born Dec. 8, 1765, Westboro, Mass., U.S.—died Jan. 8, 1825, New Haven, Conn.) U.S. inventor, engineer, and manufacturer. He is best remembered as the inventor of the cotton gin (1793), which led to greatly increased production of the short-staple cotton grown in much of the South, making the region prosperous. The most important innovation credited to Whitney may be the concept of mass production of interchangeable parts. His idea of manufacturing quantities of identical parts for assembly into muskets, after undertaking in 1797 to supply the U.S. government with 10,000 muskets in two years, helped inaugurate the vastly important American System of manufacture.