Eli+Whitney+and+the+cotton+gin

Eli Whitney and the cotton gin
Eli Whitney was born on December 8, 1765, in Massachusetts. The cotton gin was invented in 1792. When farmers were having a lot of trouble taking the green seeds from the cotton, Eli was inspired to help them. People needed a faster way to clean the cotton. Eli Whitney thought about how he could solve this problem while he was recovering from small pox. The cotton gin could clear the seeds from the cotton 50 times faster than a person working by hand. Saving time helped the farmers make more money. This is how the cotton gin works: The cotton with seeds still in it is put into a hopper, a big wooden box on the side of the cotton gin. When a crank is turned it rotates a wheel inside the box. The wheel is covered with wire hooks that catch the cotton fibers and take them from the seeds. When the wheel turns, the fibers are pulled through a grate and come out of the other end of the machine where they are pulled from the cylinder and are hooked by a rotating brush that Eli Whitney called the clearer. Eli Whitney died in 1825, at age 59.

By:Gertie