Eli Whitney

Introduction

Eli Whitney was born in Westborough, Massachusetts on December 08, 1765. As a small boy growing up in Massachusetts, Whitney's mechanical skills never went un-noticed. Whitney made his first violin when he was 12 and established his own nail-making business by the time he was a teenager (Mirsky and Nevins, 11-19). In 1792, Whitney moved to Savannah, Georgia for a teaching job, and found out the job was already filled. He then met Mrs. Catherine Littlefield Greene, a widow of a war hero (Green, 15-28), General Nathanael Greene. Whitney at this time was offered by Mrs. Greene to be a guest while he studied law there, he agreed (Mirsky and Nevins, 23-49). Whitney decided to start fixing up things around the house for his re-payment of her kindness. His work did not go un-noticed in the eyes of Mrs. Greene either. While discussing the green seed cotton with others and how they could not grow it well enough for profits because of the time it took to clean the seeds out of the fibers.

Historians believe that one of the greatest pioneers in the birth of automation, American inventor, pioneer, mechanical engineer, and manufacturer Eli Whitney. Best remembered as the inventor of the cotton gin. He made his first violin when he was only 12. Eli started college when he was 23, in 1788. He left for Georgia and got his first look at cotton business. He graduated from Yale in 1792, and went to Savannah, Georgia to teach and study law. After he graduated he went south to tutor the children of a wealthy plantation owner. He taught school for five years. Eli Whitney made and sold nails during the Revolutionary war. (Mirsky and Nevins, 11-19)

Contributions

In 1798 Eli obtained a government contract to make 10,000 muskets. In 1812 he was given another contract for 15,000 muskets .He built the first firearms factory to use mass production methods. When Eli Whitney built his first factory in 1798, he allocated a great deal of his precious resources to providing housing for his workers as well as ensuring that they were well off financially. This consideration marked his entire career as an industrialist. He wanted to 'employ steady sober people, tied to his factory and part of a community of industry. He intended to create a self-sufficient village, producing goods, and populated by well educated and happy workers. He also affected the industrial development of the United States, in manufacturing muskets but most of Whitney's own guns parts do not in fact interchange.

Nevertheless, Eli Whitney is a figure whose history is fascinating, and whose impact in New Haven can not be overstated. He translated the concept of interchangeable parts into a manufacturing system, giving birth to the American mass-production concept. Whitney saw that a machine to clean the seed from cotton could make the South prosperous and make its inventor rich (Green, 65-78). He set to work at once and within days had drawn a sketch to explain his idea; 10 days later ...