How Did Eli Whitney Impact Society

In the beginning years after America had finally claimed their independence from Britain, it began the long tremendous journey of American Ingenuity. From this there was the production of many essential inventions to society, that would leave an impact on the world for the rest of time. Some inventions that produced this impact was the telegraph, airplanes and the power looms. One of the most notable inventors of this time period was Eli Whitney who created three inventions that left a tremendous influence on the agriculture and American progress.

Eli Whitney was originally born in Westborough, Massachusetts a few years before America gained their independence. He grew up as a farmer, but often spent time in his father's workshop working on

The cotton would go into the top of the machine and with an individual turning the handle it would go through a series of wired teeth that combed out the seeds. After the seeds are taken out, the cotton would be pulled out of the machine. Comparative to the one pound of cotton a

This invention was called interchangeable parts. Eli Whitney began to produce interchangeable parts in 1798 which made way for a collection of inventions for the 19th century. This process began while congress set up a plan to go to war against France, with this they required many more weapons to fight. Whitney took this opportunity to make the fortune that he failed to gain in his last invention. The congress asked Whitney to make ten thousand muskets within two years, which was an extremely short time period for inventions. Instead of creating the weapons, Whitney created a series of interchangeable parts with the money he was given. Until this point in time all weapons were made from hand from stock to barrel and no part of one gun could fit another. When he was brought before President John Adams, he created muskets in front of them with random parts. The President was impressed by this and Whitney received a tremendous amount of credit and fortune, because of his products. However, it was later concluded that Whitney's presentation of interchangeable parts was a scam. He did not pick the products up at random instead he had markings on each part and assembled them that way. Even with this knowledge, Whitney is still given credit for this