The Life of Eli Whitney
There are many people that effected the United States of America during the Civil War. There are even people that many claim probably changed the outcome of the Civil War by their inventions and innovations. Among these people is Eli Whitney. Eli Whitney is most known for his creation of the cotton gin, which was revolutionary during the civil war because it heavily changed how the South was able to farm and sell cotton, which in turn changed their economy and gave the South the advantage of a prosperous cotton industry which was far more advanced than the North’s method of cotton picking. Since cotton picking was mostly a slave job, the cotton gin affected slavery greatly. Eli Whitney was born in Westborough, Massachusetts from his mother Elizabeth Fay and Eli Whitney Sr. His father at the time of his birth was a successful farmer, and his mother stayed at home. He grew up on a farm, however he was mostly interested in the field of technology and inventions of the future. He sought to make the life of a farmer easier and more efficient, and learned many things about how farm work was done by living on the farm.
At just the age of 11, his mother died of natural causes (1777). At the age of 14, he worked with his father in his workshop, manufacturing things such as nails. Eli later became at expert at making nails from a machine that he himself had invented. He became good at making, creating, and crafting things, as later in his life he created hairpins for women and canes for the elderly. All of this was during the Revolutionary War.
He had dreamed of going to college, but his stepmother did not approve, and didn’t allow him to go. Instead, she wanted him to be a tutor and/or a farm laborer. However, Eli Whitney still pursued his goal of going to college, and prepared to go to Yale at what is now Becker College. He did end up attending Yale and graduating in 1792. Eli Whitney had originally planned to go into the