Biography of Eli Whitney

Eli Whitney was born on the 8 December 1765 and was the son of Eli and Elizabeth
Whitney. Whitney was born in the town Westborough in Worcester county.The
farmers of Westborough had workshops built close to their homes where they built
tables, chairs, and other things necessary for the home or farm work. In his father's
workshop, Whitney would fool with anything that needed repair.
When Withney was eight years old, he took apart his father's watch and put it back
together again perfectly. Whitney's mother died when he was 12 years old, and he
had to take on more responsibilities. While he worked with his father on the farm in
Westborough, the American Revolution was going on in nearby Boston. When the
Revolutionary War began Whitney knew he could make nails for people, because
they could no longer get them from England. He made nails and tools for sale and
later went on to making hatpins and walking canes out of metal.
Whitney was wishful to know what was happening outside this small town of
Westborough, so, at nineteen he decided he wanted to go to college. Whitney
decided to go to Yale since he could translate and write Latin and Greek also,English
and Mathematics were his best subjects. Whitney graduated from Yale in 1792 and
then went on to the South for a job.
In 1793, Whitney finished his first model of the cotton gin. The all country profited
from Whitney's idea and ability. The North profited through the growth of cotton
industry and the south through the increase of crops Everyone was beginning to
make money. On 6 January 1817 Whitney was 51 years old and finally married
Henrietta Edwards who was 31. They had 4 children before his death in New Haven.