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Caveman Language

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In 1785, Whitney decided that he wanted to attend Yale University. His parents had not expected their practical son to attend college at all, much less Yale, which then educated only future lawyers and theologians. Nevertheless, Whitney insisted, and at age 23 he went off to Connecticut to get his college degree. He repaired people's broken-down machines and tools to make pocket money and worked as a teaching assistant, graduating four years later, in 1792. 

Thinking he would try teaching as a career, since he had some experience, Whitney got a job at a school in Savannah, Georgia, where he planned to study law as well. When he arrived at the school, however, he discovered that the authorities had greatly reduced his promised income. Disgusted with the whole situation, he accepted an offer from the widow of a Revolutionary War general to live on her plantation and assist her overseer. The widow became so impressed with Whitney's mechanical ability that she introduced him to some Southern businessmen who wanted to improve the existing cotton-milling process. 

The men showed Whitney how difficult it was to get the cotton fibers out of the tough, prickly seeds to which they were attached. Whitney immediately got the idea that some kind of machine with metal projections might make the task more efficient, so he went to work on making one. In 1793, he finished designing his "cotton gin" ("gin" being a shortened form of the word "engine"). This machine had metal wires that protruded through slats so that when the gin was dragged through a field of cotton plants, the wires caught up the cotton fibers and pulled them out of the seeds. Whitney's invention enabled a planter to produce 50 pounds of cleaned cotton a day with one gin, where before it had taken a worker a whole day just to accumulate a single pound. 

"Eli Whitney." American History. ABC-CLIO. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com (accessed November 5, 2009).

What facts relate to my essential question?EQ: How did the cotton gin revolutionize the industry?

Beginning of cotton gin

• Lived at Revolutionary War general widow’s plantation to help the manager

• Became very good at mechanics

• Learned the difficulties of getting the cotton fibers from “tough prickly seeds”

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