history yikes
2007-10-26 12:11:39 · 9 answers · asked by alexis h 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
He did two famous things.
1. He invented the 'cotton gin' ('gin' is short for 'engine). It was a machine that separated the fibers of cotton from the seeds. This made cotton a much more profitable crop in the South and created great wealth. Ironically, though it eliminated the need for slaves to separate seeds from cotton bolls, it ended up greatly increasing the use of slaves to grow more cotton!
2. He invented the principle of 'interchangeable parts'. In those days things were made one at a time, all the parts by the same craftsman who fitted them together by hand. Whitney showed the US govt. how to make lots guns by having different people making different parts, which was quicker and cheaper. Any of one part would fit with any of another part. This was a huge advancement in manufacturing technology, allowing what we call today 'mass production'.
Did you know Eli Whitney was Jewish?
2007-10-26 12:17:13 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
He received a patent in 1794 for a wire-toothed cotton gin. He did not invent the cotton gin. (Roller gins were used as early as the 5th century in India.) However, because he fought any infringements on his patent, his name became associated with all gins, and school children in his native Massachusetts, seat of the American textile industry, were taught that he had invented the cotton gin. Because school texts for the entire nation were written and published in Massachusetts, his mythological achievement became accepted as fact.
2007-10-26 13:27:24 · answer #2 · answered by noname 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Invented the cotton gin. He built firearms (Muskets) and he invented the principle of standardization or interchangeability in manufacture.
2007-10-26 12:19:12 · answer #3 · answered by Frosty 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He invented the cotton gin. The cotton gin is a machine that you crank a handle on and while you do this the machine separates the seeds from the cotton fluff.
2007-10-26 12:14:38 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Got an idea from a black slave an made it his own knowing the slave wouldn't know the first thing about marketing a n invention.
2007-10-26 12:17:35 · answer #5 · answered by Myspace.com?memphisking111 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mrs. Whitney, I expect.
2007-10-26 12:15:05 · answer #6 · answered by woocee 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
inventor of the cotton gin. it made the textile industry in the south boom
2007-10-26 12:14:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
didn't he invent the cotton gin? google works wonders
2007-10-26 12:14:19 · answer #8 · answered by racer 51 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He did his own homework.
2007-10-26 12:17:15 · answer #9 · answered by ziggy_brat 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋