Ellie Whitney

Eli Whitney was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin in 1793, which revolutionized cotton processing and bolstered the economy of the Antebellum South while prolonging slavery. Born on a Massachusetts farm, he graduated from Yale in 1792 and later pioneered the concept of interchangeable parts in musket manufacturing, laying foundations for modern mass production. Despite patent struggles with the cotton gin, his innovations significantly influenced American industry and agriculture.