Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793, facilitating efficient cotton production for Southern farmers and boosting profits from this high-demand commodity. He also developed the first mass-produced musket using interchangeable parts, revolutionizing manufacturing by enabling untrained workers to assemble them easily. Whitney's innovations significantly impacted the cotton trade and contributed to the funding of the Civil War effort in the South.

1. Eli WhitneyTim Trent

2. What did Eli Whitney do?In 1793, Eli Whitney developed the Cotton Gin (Short for Cotton Engine) which allowed Southern farmers to efficiently grow cotton (a high commodity in Britain) for a profit.Later, in 1801, Whitney assembled a musket made of completely interchangeable parts in front of President John Adams

3. Who was Eli Whitney?Whitney was the son of a wealthy farmer in Massachusetts.During the Revolutionary War, Whitney received experience (and lots of money) in manufacturing.He wanted to attend Yale at Leicester to study law, but did not have enough money.Originally intending to head to South Carolina, Whitney wound up in Georgia, where he met the Widow of the hero General Nathanael Greene.It was at her farm, Mulberry Grove, where he developed his Cotton Gin.

4. Why Eli Whitney?The interchangeable parts in Whitney’s musket were the first step towards mass production.Having all parts in each musket the same allowed workers to assemble the muskets without prior training.As a comparison, Whitney was able to manufacture 10,000 muskets in two years, whereas most arms companies could produce 600 in the same time.The Cotton Gin was the cause for the cotton trade in the South.The difficulty of cotton was pulling the seeds out of the buds, but the Cotton Gin allowed one worker to pull them all out.The ease of the South’s production of cotton eventually helped fund the Civil War effort in the South, since cotton was so valuable.