Eli Whitney | BJU Press Summer History eCamp

Eli Whitney

Eli Whitney was about ten years old when the War for Independence began. Eli’s parents thought he would want to take over the farm when he was older. But Eli wanted to go to college.

After college, Whitney planned to teach the children of a rich Georgia planter. But
he never made it to the plantation. On the way, Whitney saw the cotton plant for the first time. He heard how hard it was to remove the seeds from the sticky cotton. And he learned that the people of the South could become rich from selling cotton if only someone could find an easy way to remove the seeds.

Whitney decided to build a machine that would remove the seeds from cotton. It took
six months of constant work. But by early 1793, he had a machine that could clean as much cotton as one thousand slaves could. The machine could be worked by a man, a team of oxen, or a water wheel. Later, the cotton gin would be run by another machine. Can you guess which one?

We remember Eli Whitney most for his cotton gin. But the cotton gin was not his only invention. His next invention was not an object but a new way of doing things. This idea was even more important than his cotton gin.

In Whitney’s day, all the parts for machines and tools were made by hand. No two parts were quite the same. And no two finished tools were exactly alike. Replacing parts and fixing broken equipment was very difficult.

Whitney began making muskets for the new United States army in 1798. In his factory, Whitney built machines for making each part of the musket. The machines made each part exactly alike. Now each trigger was just like all the other triggers. And each trigger would fit any one of Whitney’s muskets. Suddenly, making the muskets was quicker.

Fixing broken muskets was easier too because the parts were interchangeable. How do you think Whitney’s idea helped other inventors?