Eli Whitney

Eli Whitney (December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825) was an American inventor best known as the inventor of the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the industrial revolution and shaped the economy of the antebellum South.^[1] Whitney's invention made short staple cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery. Despite the social and economic impact of his invention, Whitney lost his profits in legal battles over patent infringement, closed his business, and nearly filed bankruptcy. Download high resolution version (361x640, 54 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Eli Whitney Categories: U.S. history images ... Download high resolution version (361x640, 54 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Eli Whitney Categories: U.S. history images ... is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1765 (MDCCLXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1825 (MDCCCXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Inventor (disambiguation). ... A cotton gin on display at the Eli Whitney Museum. ... A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ... Antebellum is a Latin word meaning before the war. In United States history and historiography Antebellum is sometimes used instead of the term pre_Civil War, especially in the South. ...

Afterward Whitney became a firearms manufacturer who supplied muskets to the United States government. He spent the remainder of his career promoting the idea of interchangeable parts for the manufacture of firearms. Although he was not the first to propose the concept of interchangeable parts and never developed a working system of interchangeable parts, he popularized the idea as a useful manufacturing concept. In order to justify the sale price of his contracted firearms to the government he developed improvements in cost accounting that included fixed costs that had gone overlooked in federal estimates for price comparison. Muskets and bayonets aboard the frigate Grand Turk. ... Interchangeable parts are components of any device designed to specifications which insure that they will fit within any device of the same type. ... Firearms redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Fixed costs are expenses whose total does not change in proportion to the activity of a business, within the relevant time period or scale of production. ...

Early life

Whitney was born in Westborough, Massachusetts, on December 8, 1765, the eldest child of Eli Whitney, a prosperous farmer and his mother, Elizabeth Fay of Westborough, who died when he was 12. Very early in life he demonstrated his mechanical genius and entrepreneurial acumen, operating a profitable nail manufacturing operation in his father's workshop during the American Revolution.^[2] Because his stepmother opposed his wish to attend college, Whitney worked as a farm laborer and schoolteacher to save money. He prepared for Yale at Leicester Academy (now Becker College) and under the tutelage of Rev.Elizur Goodrich of Durham, Connecticut he entered the Class of 1792.^[1] For other uses of Westborough, see Westborough (disambiguation). ... is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1765 (MDCCLXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... YALE (Yet Another Learning Environment) is an environment for machine learning experiments and data mining. ... Becker College is a college in Massachusetts with campuses in Worcester and Leicester. ... Durham is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. ...

Whitney expected to study law but, finding himself short of funds, accepted an offer to go to South Carolina as a private tutor. Instead of reaching his destination, he was convinced to visit Georgia.^[2] In the closing years of the eighteenth century, Georgia was a magnet for New Englanders seeking their fortunes (its Revolutionary era governor had been Lyman Hall, a migrant from Connecticut). When he initially sailed for South Carolina, among his shipmates were the widow and family of Revolutionary hero, General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island. Mrs. Greene invited Whitney to visit her Georgia plantation, Mulberry Grove. Her plantation manager and husband-to-be was Phineas Miller, another Connecticut migrant and Yale graduate (Class of 1785), who would become Whitney's business partner. This article is about the Georgia governor and signer of the Declaration of Independence. ... This article is about the American Revolutionary War hero. ...

Whitney is most famous for two innovations which later divided the United States in the mid-19th century: the cotton gin (1793), and his advocacy of interchangeable parts. In the South, the cotton gin revolutionized the way cotton was harvested and reinvigorated slavery. While in the North, the adoption of interchangeable parts revolutionized the manufacturing industry, and in time contributed greatly to their victory in the Civil War.^[3] A cotton gin on display at the Eli Whitney Museum. ... Interchangeable parts are components of any device designed to specifications which insure that they will fit within any device of the same type. ... Look up Harvest in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

Career inventions

Cotton gin

Main article: Cotton gin

Eli Whitney was inspired to build the cotton gin by observing a cat attempting to pull a chicken through a fence, and could only pull through some of the feathers. A cotton gin on display at the Eli Whitney Museum. ... Binomial name Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758 Synonyms Felis lybica invalid junior synonym The cat (or domestic cat, house cat) is a small carnivorous mammal. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Closeup on a single white feather A feather is one of the epidermal growths that forms the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on a bird. ...

A single cotton gin could generate up to fifty-five pounds of cleaned cotton daily. This contributed to the economic development of the Southern states of the United States, a prime cotton growing area; some historians believe that this invention allowed for the African slavery system in the Southern United States to become more sustainable at a critical point in its development. The U.S. Southern states or The South, known during the American Civil War era as Dixie, is a distinctive region of the United States with its own unique historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Historic Southern United States. ...

Cotton Gin Patent. It shows sawtooth gin blades, which were not part of Whitney's original patent.

Whitney received a patent (later numbered as X72) for his cotton gin on March 14, 1794; however, it was not validated until 1807. Whitney and his partner Miller did not intend to sell the gins. Rather, like the proprietors of grist and sawmills, they expected to charge farmers for cleaning their cotton - two-fifths of the profits, paid in cotton. Resentment at this scheme, the mechanical simplicity of the device, and the primitive state of patent law, made infringement inevitable. As Whitney and Miller were unable to produce enough gins to meet demand, imitation gins began to spread. Ultimately, patent infringement lawsuits consumed the profits and their cotton gin company went out of business in 1797.^[2] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (674x1006, 83 KB) U.S. Patent and Trademark Office File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (674x1006, 83 KB) U.S. Patent and Trademark Office File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For other uses, see Patent (disambiguation). ... is the 73rd day of the year (74th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Gristmill with water wheel, Skyline Drive, VA, 1938 A gristmill is a building where grain is ground into flour. ... For the 1922 film starring Oliver Hardy, see The Sawmill. ... The history of patents and patent laws is generally considered to have started in Italy with a Venetian Statute of 1474. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

While the cotton gin did not earn Whitney the fortune he had hoped for, it did give him fame and the cotton gin transformed Southern agriculture and the national economy.^[4] Southern cotton found ready markets in Europe and in the burgeoning textile mills of New England. Cotton agriculture revived the profitability of slavery and the political power of supporters of the South's "peculiar institution." By the 1820s, the dominant issues in American politics were driven by "King Cotton": maintaining the political balance between slave and free states and tariff protection for American industry. The cotton interests led the country into war with Mexico, expecting a vast expansion of cotton agriculture For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... The cotton mill is a type of factory that was created to house spinning and weaving machinery. ... This article is about the region in the United States of America. ... The peculiar institution was an euphemism for slavery and the economic ramifications of it in the American South. ... King Cotton is a phrase used in the Southern United States. ... The free and slave states as of 1861, with free states in blue and slave states in red. ... For the term free state as it arises in United States history, see: Free state. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Economic policy Monetary policy Central bank   Money supply Fiscal policy Spending   Deficit   Debt Trade policy Tariff   Trade agreement Finance Financial market Financial market participants Corporate   Personal Public   Banking   Regulation        For other uses of this word, see tariff (disambiguation). ...

Interchangeable parts

Though Whitney is popularly credited with the invention of a musket that could be manufactured with interchangeable parts, the idea predated him. The idea is credited to Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, a French artillerist, and credits for finally perfecting the "armory system," or American system of manufacturing, is given by historian Merritt Roe Smith to Captain John H. Hall and by historian Diana Muir writing in Reflections in Bullough's Pond to Simeon North. In From the American System to Mass Production, historian David A. Hounshell described how de Gribeauval's idea propagated from France to the colonies via two routes: from Honoré Blanc through his friend Thomas Jefferson, and via Major Louis de Tousard, another French artillerist who was instrumental in establishing West Point, teaching the young officer corps of the Continental Army, and establishing the armories at Springfield and Harpers Ferry. Muskets and bayonets aboard the frigate Grand Turk. ... Interchangeable parts are components of any device designed to specifications which insure that they will fit within any device of the same type. ... Lieutenant General Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval (15 September 1715 - 9 May 1789) was a French artillery officer and engineer who introduced various technical improvements to French cannon, providing them with an advantage during the early years of the Napoleonic wars. ... For other uses, see Artillery (disambiguation). ... The American system of manufacturing involves semi-skilled labor using machine tools and templates (or jigs) to make standardized, identical, interchangeable parts, manufactured to a tolerance. ... John H. Hall was born in 1781 in Portland, Maine. ... Simeon North (1763 - 1852) was a Middletown, Connecticut gun manufacturer, who developed Americas first milling machine in 1818. ... David A. Hounshell is the David M. Roderick Professor of Technology and Social Change in the Department of History, Engineering and Public Policy program at Carnegie Mellon University. ... Honoré Blanc was a French gunsmith and a pioneer of the use interchangeable parts. ... Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 N.S.–4 July 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–09), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. ... Major Louis de Tousard was a French artillerist who served in the Continental Army under La Fayette. ... Alternate meanings: West Point (disambiguation). ... The Continental Army was an army formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. ... The Royal Armoury, Leeds An armory (Armoury) is a military depot used for the storage of weapons and ammunition. ... This is an article about the US Government Arsenal. ... The Harpers Ferry Armory, more formally the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, located in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (then part of Virginia), was the second federal armory commissioned by the new United States government, the first being the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. ...

By the late 1790s, Whitney was on the verge of bankruptcy and cotton gin litigation had left him deeply in debt. His New Haven cotton gin factory had burned to the ground, and litigation sapped his remaining resources. The French Revolution had ignited new conflicts between England, France, and the United States. The new American government, realizing the need to prepare for war, began to rearm. The War Department issued contracts for the manufacture of 10,000 muskets. Whitney, who had never made a gun in his life, obtained a contract in January, 1798 to deliver ten to fifteen thousand muskets in 1800. He had not mentioned interchangeable parts at that time. Ten months later, Treasury Secretary Wolcott sent him a "foreign pamphlet on arms manufacturing techniques," possibly one of Honoré Blanc's reports, after which Whitney first began to talk about interchangeability. After spending most of 1799-1801 in cotton gin litigation, Whitney began promoting the idea of interchangeable parts, and even arranged a public demonstration of the concept in order to gain time. He did not deliver on the contract until 1809, but then spent the rest of his life publicizing the idea of interchangeability.^[5] Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration—see text) in the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Debt (disambiguation). ... This article is about the city in Connecticut. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Line drawing of the Department of Wars seal. ... Interchangeable parts are components of any device designed to specifications which insure that they will fit within any device of the same type. ... The United States Secretary of the Treasury is the finance minister of the Federal Government of the United States. ... Oliver Wolcott Jr. ...

Whitney's defenders have claimed that he invented the American system of manufacturing -- the combination of power machinery, interchangeable parts, and division of labor that would underlie the nation's subsequent industrial revolution. While there is persuasive evidence that he failed to achieve interchangeability, his use of power machinery and specialized division of labor are well documented ^[6]. When the government complained that Whitney's price per musket compared unfavorably with those produced in government armories, Whitney was able to calculate an actual price per musket by including fixed costs such as insurance and machinery, which the government had not included. He thus made early contributions to both the concept of cost accounting, and the concept of the efficiency of private industry. The American system of manufacturing involves semi-skilled labor using machine tools and templates (or jigs) to make standardized, identical, interchangeable parts, manufactured to a tolerance. ... Interchangeable parts are components of any device designed to specifications which insure that they will fit within any device of the same type. ... Division of labour is the breakdown of labour into specific, circumscribed tasks for maximum efficiency of output in the context of manufacturing. ... Fixed costs are expenses whose total does not change in proportion to the activity of a business, within the relevant time period or scale of production. ... The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is one of the largest New York based life insurance companies Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. ... A machine is any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of tasks. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Economic efficiency is a general term for the value assigned to a situation by some measure designed to capture the amount of waste or friction or other undesirable economic features present. ...

Later life and legacy

South side of Eli Whitney monument in the Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut

North side of monument

Despite his humble origins, Whitney was keenly aware of the value of social and political connections. In building his arms business, he took full advantage of the access that his status as a Yale alumnus gave him to other well-placed graduates, such as Secretary of War Oliver Wolcott (Class of 1778) and New Haven developer and political leader James Hillhouse. His 1817 marriage to Henrietta Edwards, granddaughter of the famed evangelist Jonathan Edwards, daughter of Pierpont Edwards, head of the Democratic Party in Connecticut, and first cousin of Yale's president, Timothy Dwight, the state's leading Federalist, further tied him to Connecticut's ruling elite. In a business dependent on government contracts, such connections were essential to success. Grove Street Cemetery or Grove Street Burial Ground in New Haven, Connecticut is located in the center of the Yale University campus. ... New Haven redirects here. ... YALE (Yet Another Learning Environment) is an environment for machine learning experiments and data mining. ... The Secretary of War was a member of the United States Presidents Cabinet, beginning with George Washingtons administration. ... Oliver Wolcott (December 1, 1726–December 1, 1797), was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Connecticut. ... James Hillhouse (October 20, 1754 - December 29, 1832), of New Haven, Connecticut, was a real estate developer responsible for much of the current look of New Haven, a politician, and a treasurer of Yale University. ... Look up evangelist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703- March 22, 1758) was a colonial American Congregational preacher and theologian. ... Pierpont Edwards (April 8, 1750-April 5, 1826) was a delegate to the American Continental Congress. ... Timothy Dwight is the name of two presidents of Yale University Timothy Dwight IV (1752-1817) -- President of Yale University from 1795-1817. ... The term federalist refers to several sets of political beliefs around the world. ... The term ruling class refers to the ruling elite of a given society, even in democracies. ...

Whitney died of prostate cancer on January 8, 1825, leaving a widow and four children. His armory was left in the charge of his talented nephews, Eli Whitney and Philos Blake, notable inventors and manufacturers in their own right (they invented the mortise lock and the stone-crushing machine). HRPC redirects here. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1825 (MDCCCXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Armory or armoury may mean: Armory (military), a military location used for the storage of arms and ammunition. ... Eli Whitney Blake, Sr. ... An inventor is a person who creates new inventions, typically technical devices such as mechanical, electrical or software devices or methods. ... Manufacturing is the transformation of raw materials into finished goods for sale, or intermediate processes involving the production or finishing of semi-manufactures. ... A mortise lock (mortice lock in British English) is one that requires a pocket - the mortise - to be cut into the door or piece of furniture into which the lock is to be fitted. ...

Eli Whitney, Jr. (1820-1894) assumed control of the armory in 1841. Working under contract to inventor Samuel Colt, the younger Whitney manufactured the famous "Whitneyville Walker Colts" for the Texas Rangers. The success of this contract rescued Colt from financial ruin and enabled him to establish his own famous arms company. Whitney's marriage to Sarah Dalliba, daughter of the U.S. Army's chief of ordinance, helped to assure the continuing success of his business. A contract is a legally binding exchange of promises or agreement between parties that the law will enforce. ... Samuel Colt (19th century engraving) Samuel Colt (born Hartford, Connecticut July 19, 1814 - died Hartford, Connecticut January 10, 1862) was an American inventor and industrialist. ... For other uses, see Texas Rangers. ... For other uses, see CMC. Colts Manufacturing Company (CMC--formerly Colts Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is a United States firearms manufacturer founded in 1847. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Branch insignia of Ordnance Corps The Ordnance Corps is a combat service support branch of the United States Army. ...

The younger Whitney organized the New Haven Water Company, which began operations in 1862. While this enterprise addressed the city's need for water, it also enabled Whitney to increase the amount of power available for his manufacturing operations at the expense of the water company's stockholders. A new dam made it possible to consolidate his operations—originally located in three sites along the Mill River—in a single plant. This dam still exists. The Mill River is a river in the New England region of the United States, located entirely in the state of Connecticut. ...

Whitney's grandson, Eli Whitney IV (1847-1924), sold the Whitney Armory to Winchester Repeating Arms, another notable New Haven gun company, in 1888. He served as president of the water company until his death and was a major New Haven business and civic leader. He played an important role in the development of New Haven's Ronan-Edgehill Neighborhood. The U.S. Repeating Arms Company. ...

Following the closure of the armory, the factory site continued to be used for a variety of industrial purposes, including the water company. Many of the original armory buildings remained intact until the 1960s. In the 1970s, as part of the Bicentennial celebration, interested citizens organized the Eli Whitney Museum, which opened to the public in 1984. The site today includes the boarding house and barn that served Eli Whitney's original workers and a stone storage building from the original armory. Museum exhibits and programs are housed in a factory building constructed c. 1910. A water company office building constructed in the 1880s now houses educational programs operated by the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (which succeeded the New Haven Water Company). The United States Bicentennial was celebrated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. ... The Eli Whitney Museum is a building erected as a musket factory by Eli Whitney on a site he purchased on September 17, 1798. ...

Eli Whitney and his descendants are buried in New Haven's historic Grove Street Cemetery.^[7] Yale College's Eli Whitney Students Program, which is one of the four doors into Yale College, is named after Whitney in recognition of his venerable age at the time of his entrance to Yale College in 1792; he was twenty-Three years old. This article is about the city in Connecticut. ... The Egyptian Revival entry gateway Grove Street Cemetery or Grove Street Burial Ground in New Haven, Connecticut is located in the center of the Yale University campus. ... The Eli Whitney Students Program is one of the four gates into Yale College, the other three being freshman, international and transfer students admissions. ...

References

Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 78th day of the year (79th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 78th day of the year (79th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further reading

David A. Hounshell is the David M. Roderick Professor of Technology and Social Change in the Department of History, Engineering and Public Policy program at Carnegie Mellon University. ...

External links

• The Eli Whitney Museum
• Eli Whitney Biography on at Whitney Research Group
• Inventor of the Week: Eli Whitney (MIT)
• Entry in New Georgia Encyclopedia