| Early life | | | | could be stored for long periods and shipped long |
| Whitney was born in Westborough, | | | | distances, unlike most agricultural food production. |
| Massachusetts, on December 8, 1765, the eldest | | | | Paradoxically, the cotton gin, a labor-saving device, |
| child of Eli Whitney Sr., a prosperous farmer. His | | | | helped preserve the weakening arguments for |
| mother, Elizabeth Fay of Westborough, died when | | | | slavery, since cheap (slave) labor was needed to |
| he was eleven.[citation needed] At age fourteen | | | | pick cotton. Later, the 20th century invention of |
| he operated a profitable nail manufacturing | | | | the cotton-picker reduced the labor-intensive |
| operation in his father's workshop during the | | | | demands of cotton farming, and brought |
| Revolutionary War. Because his stepmother | | | | unemployment to many poor Southerners. |
| opposed his wish to attend college, Whitney | | | | Milling machine |
| worked as a farm laborer and schoolteacher to | | | | Main article: Milling machine |
| save money. He prepared for Yale at Leicester | | | | Machine tool historian Joseph W. Roe credited Eli |
| Academy (now Becker College) and under the | | | | Whitney with inventing the first milling machine. |
| tutelage of Rev.Elizur Goodrich of Durham, | | | | Subsequent work by other historians (Woodbury, |
| Connecticut he entered the Class of 1789, and | | | | Smith, Muir) suggests that Whitney was among a |
| graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1792. Whitney | | | | group of contemporaries all developing milling |
| expected to study law but, finding himself short | | | | machines at about the same time (1814 to 1818). |
| of funds, accepted an offer to go to South | | | | Therefore, no one person can properly be |
| Carolina as a private tutor. Instead of reaching his | | | | described as the inventor of the milling machine. |
| destination, he was convinced to visit Georgia. In | | | | Later life and legacy |
| the closing years of the eighteenth century, | | | | South side of Eli Whitney monument in the Grove |
| Georgia was a magnet for New Englanders | | | | Street Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut |
| seeking their fortunes (its Revolutionary era | | | | North side of monument |
| governor had been Lyman Hall, a migrant from | | | | Despite his humble origins, Whitney was keenly |
| Connecticut). When he initially sailed for South | | | | aware of the value of social and political |
| Carolina, among his shipmates were the widow | | | | connections. In building his arms business, he took |
| and family of Revolutionary hero, General | | | | full advantage of the access that his status as a |
| Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island. Mrs. Greene | | | | Yale alumnus gave him to other well-placed |
| invited Whitney to visit her Georgia plantation, | | | | graduates, such as Secretary of War Oliver |
| Mulberry Grove. Her plantation manager and | | | | Wolcott (Class of 1778) and New Haven |
| husband-to-be was Phineas Miller, another | | | | developer and political leader James Hillhouse. His |
| Connecticut migrant and Yale graduate (Class of | | | | 1817 marriage to Henrietta Edwards, |
| 1785), who would become Whitney's business | | | | granddaughter of the famed evangelist Jonathan |
| partner. | | | | Edwards, daughter of Pierpont Edwards, head of |
| Whitney is most famous for two innovations | | | | the Democratic Party in Connecticut, and first |
| which later divided the United States in the | | | | cousin of Yale's president, Timothy Dwight, the |
| mid-19th century: the cotton gin (1793), and his | | | | state's leading Federalist, further tied him to |
| advocacy of interchangeable parts. In the South, | | | | Connecticut's ruling elite. In a business dependent |
| the cotton gin revolutionized the way cotton was | | | | on government contracts, such connections were |
| harvested and reinvigorated slavery. While in the | | | | essential to success. |
| North, the adoption of interchangeable parts | | | | Whitney died at age 59 of prostate cancer on |
| revolutionized the manufacturing industry, and in | | | | January 8, 1825, in New Haven, CT, leaving a |
| time contributed greatly to their victory in the | | | | widow and four children. During the course of his |
| Civil War. | | | | illness, he invented and constructed several |
| Career inventions | | | | devices to ease his pain mechanically. These |
| Interchangeable parts | | | | devices, drawings of which are in his collected |
| Main article: Interchangeable parts | | | | papers, were effective but were never |
| Though Whitney is popularly credited with the | | | | manufactured for use of others due to his heirs' |
| invention of a musket that could be manufactured | | | | reluctance to trade in "indelicate" items. |
| with interchangeable parts, the idea predated him. | | | | At his death, his armory was left in the charge of |
| The idea is credited to Jean Baptiste Vaquette de | | | | his talented nephews, Eli Whitney Blake and Philos |
| Gribeauval, a French artillerist, and credits for | | | | Blake, notable inventors and manufacturers in |
| finally perfecting the "armory system," or | | | | their own right (they invented the mortise lock |
| American system of manufacturing, is given by | | | | and the stone-crushing machine). |
| historian Merritt Roe Smith to Captain John H. Hall | | | | Eli Whitney Blake (1820-1894) assumed control of |
| and by historian Diana Muir writing in Reflections in | | | | the armory in 1841. Working under contract to |
| Bullough's Pond to Simeon North. In From the | | | | inventor Samuel Colt, the younger Whitney |
| American System to Mass Production, historian | | | | manufactured the famous "Whitneyville Walker |
| David A. Hounshell described how de Gribeauval's | | | | Colts" for the Texas Rangers. The success of this |
| idea propagated from France to the colonies via | | | | contract rescued Colt from financial ruin and |
| two routes: from Honor Blanc through his friend | | | | enabled him to establish his own famous arms |
| Thomas Jefferson, and via Major Louis de | | | | company. Whitney's marriage to Sarah Dalliba, |
| Tousard, another French artillerist who was | | | | daughter of the U.S. Army's chief of ordinance, |
| instrumental in establishing West Point, teaching | | | | helped to assure the continuing success of his |
| the young officer corps of the Continental Army, | | | | business. |
| and establishing the armories at Springfield and | | | | The younger Whitney organized the New Haven |
| Harpers Ferry. | | | | Water Company, which began operations in 1862. |
| By the late 1790s, Whitney was on the verge of | | | | While this enterprise addressed the city's need for |
| bankruptcy and cotton gin litigation had left him | | | | water, it also enabled Whitney to increase the |
| deeply in debt. His New Haven cotton gin factory | | | | amount of power available for his manufacturing |
| had burned to the ground, and litigation sapped his | | | | operations at the expense of the water |
| remaining resources. The French Revolution had | | | | company's stockholders. A new dam made it |
| ignited new conflicts between Great Britain, | | | | possible to consolidate his operationsriginally |
| France, and the United States. The new American | | | | located in three sites along the Mill Rivern a single |
| government, realizing the need to prepare for | | | | plant. This dam still exists. |
| war, began to rearm. The War Department | | | | Whitney's grandson, Eli Whitney IV (1847-1924), |
| issued contracts for the manufacture of 10,000 | | | | sold the Whitney Armory to Winchester |
| muskets. Whitney, who had never made a gun in | | | | Repeating Arms, another notable New Haven gun |
| his life, obtained a contract in January, 1798 to | | | | company, in 1888. He served as president of the |
| deliver ten to fifteen thousand muskets in 1800. | | | | water company until his death and was a major |
| He had not mentioned interchangeable parts at | | | | New Haven business and civic leader. He played an |
| that time. Ten months later, Treasury Secretary | | | | important role in the development of New |
| Wolcott sent him a "foreign pamphlet on arms | | | | Haven's Ronan-Edgehill Neighborhood. |
| manufacturing techniques," possibly one of Honor | | | | Following the closure of the armory, the factory |
| Blanc's reports, after which Whitney first began to | | | | site continued to be used for a variety of |
| talk about interchangeability. After spending most | | | | industrial purposes, including the water company. |
| of 1799-1801 in cotton gin litigation, Whitney began | | | | Many of the original armory buildings remained |
| promoting the idea of interchangeable parts, and | | | | intact until the 1960s. In the 1970s, as part of the |
| even arranged a public demonstration of the | | | | Bicentennial celebration, interested citizens |
| concept in order to gain time. He did not deliver | | | | organized the Eli Whitney Museum, which opened |
| on the contract until 1809, but then spent the | | | | to the public in 1984. The site today includes the |
| rest of his life publicizing the idea of | | | | boarding house and barn that served Eli Whitney's |
| interchangeability. | | | | original workers and a stone storage building from |
| Whitney's defenders have claimed that he | | | | the original armory. Museum exhibits and |
| invented the American system of manufacturing | | | | programs are housed in a factory building |
| -- the combination of power machinery, | | | | constructed c. 1910. A water company office |
| interchangeable parts, and division of labor that | | | | building constructed in the 1880s now houses |
| would underlie the nation's subsequent industrial | | | | educational programs operated by the South |
| revolution. While there is persuasive evidence that | | | | Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority |
| he failed to achieve interchangeability, his use of | | | | (which succeeded the New Haven Water |
| power machinery and specialized division of labor | | | | Company). |
| are well documented . When the government | | | | Eli Whitney and his descendants are buried in New |
| complained that Whitney's price per musket | | | | Haven's historic Grove Street Cemetery. Yale |
| compared unfavorably with those produced in | | | | College's Eli Whitney Students Program, which is |
| government armories, Whitney was able to | | | | one of the four doors into Yale College, is named |
| calculate an actual price per musket by including | | | | after Whitney in recognition of his venerable age |
| fixed costs such as insurance and machinery, | | | | at the time of his entrance to Yale College in |
| which the government had not included. He thus | | | | 1789; he was twenty-three years old. Eli Whitney |
| made early contributions to both the concept of | | | | is the great, great grandfather of Eli Whitney |
| cost accounting, and the concept of the efficiency | | | | Debevoise II, the current U.S. Executive Director |
| of private industry. | | | | of the World Bank Group. |
| Cotton gin | | | | Mr. Whitney was inducted into the Junior |
| Main article: Cotton gin | | | | Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1975. |
| Cotton Gin Patent. It shows sawtooth gin blades, | | | | References |
| which were not part of Whitney's original patent. | | | | ^ a b "Elms and Magnolias: The 18th Century". |
| A cotton gin on display at the Eli Whitney | | | | Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. |
| Museum. | | | | 1996-08-16. Retrieved 2008-03-19. |
| The cotton gin is a mechanical device which | | | | ^ a b c MIT Inventor of the Week archive profile. |
| removes the seeds from cotton, a process | | | | From a website funded and administered by |
| which, until the time of its invention, had been | | | | Lemelson-MIT Program. Accessed 18 March 2008. |
| extremely labor-intensive. The word 'gin' is actually | | | | ^ Who Belongs To Phi Beta Kappa, hi Beta Kappa |
| short for engine. The cotton gin was a wooden | | | | website, accessed Oct 4, 2009 |
| drum stuck with hooks, which pulled the cotton | | | | ^ New Georgia Encyclopedia: Eli Whitney in |
| fibers through a mesh. The cotton seeds would | | | | Georgia Accessed 19 March 2008. |
| not fit through the mesh and fell outside. Whitney | | | | ^ Hounshell, David A. (1984), From the American |
| occasionally told a story where he was pondering | | | | system to mass production, 1800-1932: The |
| an improved method of seeding the cotton and | | | | development of manufacturing technology in the |
| he was inspired by observing a cat attempting to | | | | United States, Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Johns |
| pull a chicken through a fence, and could only pull | | | | Hopkins University Press, LCCN 83-016269, ISBN |
| through some of the feathers. | | | | 978-0-8018-2975-8 . |
| A single cotton gin could generate up to fifty-five | | | | ^ Woodbury, Robert S. (1960). "The Legend of Eli |
| pounds of cleaned cotton daily. This contributed to | | | | Whitney and Interchangeable Parts." Technology |
| the economic development of the Southern | | | | & Culture 1. |
| states of the United States, a prime cotton | | | | ^ Eli Whitney Project A website for The Eli |
| growing area; some historians believe that this | | | | Whitney Project |
| invention allowed for the African slavery system | | | | ^ The Eli Whitney Museum and Workshop A |
| in the Southern United States to become more | | | | website for The Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden, |
| sustainable at a critical point in its development. | | | | CT. |
| Whitney received a patent (later numbered as | | | | ^ "A Chronicle of Eminent People buried in Grove |
| X72) for his cotton gin on March 14, 1794; | | | | Street Cemetery". Friends of the Grove Street |
| however, it was not validated until 1807. Whitney | | | | Cemetery. Retrieved 2008-03-19. |
| and his partner Miller did not intend to sell the gins. | | | | Further reading |
| Rather, like the proprietors of grist and sawmills, | | | | Battison, Edwin. (1960). "Eli Whitney and the Milling |
| they expected to charge farmers for cleaning | | | | Machine." Smithsonian Journal of History I. |
| their cotton - two-fifths of the profits, paid in | | | | Cooper, Carolyn, & Lindsay, Merrill K. (1980). |
| cotton. Resentment at this scheme, the | | | | Eli Whitney and the Whitney Armory. |
| mechanical simplicity of the device, and the | | | | Whitneyville, CT: Eli Whitney Museum. |
| primitive state of patent law, made infringement | | | | Dexter, Franklin B. (1911). "Eli Whitney." Yale |
| inevitable. As Whitney and Miller were unable to | | | | Biographies and Annals, 1792-1805. New York, NY: |
| produce enough gins to meet demand, imitation | | | | Henry Holt & Company. |
| gins began to spread. Ultimately, patent | | | | Hall, Karyl Lee Kibler, & Cooper, Carolyn. |
| infringement lawsuits consumed the profits and | | | | (1984). Windows on the Works: Industry on the Eli |
| their cotton gin company went out of business in | | | | Whitney Site, 1798-1979. |
| 1797. One oft-overlooked point is that Eli Whitney | | | | Hamden, CT: Eli Whitney Museum |
| originally suffered drawbacks with his first design. | | | | Hounshell, David A. (1984), From the American |
| There is significant evidence that the design flaws | | | | system to mass production, 1800-1932: The |
| were solved by a woman named Katherine | | | | development of manufacturing technology in the |
| Green, who Whitney gave no public credit or | | | | United States, Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Johns |
| recognition. | | | | Hopkins University Press, LCCN 83-016269, ISBN |
| While the cotton gin did not earn Whitney the | | | | 978-0-8018-2975-8 . |
| fortune he had hoped for, it did give him fame | | | | Lakwete, Angela. (2004). Inventing the Cotton Gin: |
| and the cotton gin transformed Southern | | | | Machine and Myth in Antebellum America. |
| agriculture and the national economy. Southern | | | | Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. |
| cotton found ready markets in Europe and in the | | | | Smith, Merritt Roe. 1973. "John H. Hall, Simeon |
| burgeoning textile mills of New England. Cotton | | | | North, and the Milling Machine: The Nature of |
| agriculture revived the profitability of slavery and | | | | Innovation among Antebellum Arms Makers." |
| the political power of supporters of the South's | | | | Technology & Culture 14. |
| "peculiar institution." By the 1820s, the dominant | | | | Woodbury, Robert S. (1960). "The Legend of Eli |
| issues in American politics were driven by "King | | | | Whitney and Interchangeable Parts." Technology |
| Cotton": maintaining the political balance between | | | | & Culture 1. |
| slave and free states and tariff protection for | | | | Iles, George (1912), Leading American Inventors, |
| American industry. Cotton exports from the | | | | New York: Henry Holt and Company, pp. 75-103, |
| South boomed after the cotton gin's appearance | | | | External links |
| (going from 180,000 pounds of total cotton | | | | The Eli Whitney Museum |
| production in 1793 to 93 million tons by | | | | Eli Whitney Biography on at Whitney Research |
| 1810)[citation needed] while New England | | | | Group |
| manufacturing companies struggled to compete | | | | Inventor of the Week: Eli Whitney (MIT) |
| against imported goods and clamored for tariff | | | | Entry in New Georgia Encyclopedia |
| protection. The cotton interests led the country | | | | "Whitney, Eli". Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). |
| into war with Mexico, expecting a vast expansion | | | | 1911. |
| of cotton agriculture. Cotton was a staple that | | | | |