Eli Whitney

ABOUT ELI WHITNEY

Inventor of the cotton gin, a machine that separated cotton seeds from fibers. He worked with Phineas Miller as a business partner on the production of the cotton gin.

He worked as a manufacturer, farmer, and teacher.

His cotton gin greatly sped up the cotton industry in the United States and the Antebellum South and was one of the greatest inventions of the Industrial Revolution. He received a patent for the machine in 1794, but by 1797 had seen his invention get pirated by cotton planters, ultimately putting he and his partner out of business.

He married Henrietta Frances Edwards in 1817 and had a daughter, Pierpont Edwards.

His cotton gin also led to the growth of slavery, which Abraham Lincoln abolished.