Eli Whtiney essays

Eli Whtiney essays Eli Whitney and Interchangeable Parts The year was 1765. One of the most influential inventors in American history, Eli Whitney, was born in Westboro, Massachusetts. He contributed some of the greatest innovations to American society. There are many different situations that helped shape or inspire Eli. Being exposed to his father's workshop, Eli accumulated an immense amount of knowledge on craftsmanship and mechanics. During college, Whitney's experiences at Yale also had many influences on him. When his pursuit of a law degree failed he began to become distracted by his affinity for mechanics. He also received an education involving advanced science and graduated with honors. Whitney was probably most influenced, though, by earlier attempts at mass production. The British textile manufacturing process inspired him as did a French man named LeBlanc, who had attempted the process of interchangeability but died before seeing its effect. Even though Eli was not certain if it was his own genuine concept, he did obtain cre dit for putting the process into action. Though perhaps best known for his invention of the cotton gin, Eli Whitney's greatest accomplishment was successfully introducing interchangeable parts to America. Until then, every rifle's part had been hand made, thus the parts of one gun did not fit any other gun. Whitney made the parts to his rifles so nearly identical that the machine parts could be interchangeable from one gun to another. For each part of the gun, a template was made. Whitney then invented a machine that allowed a man to cut metal according to a pattern. It was composed of a wheel with its cutting teeth that were driven around the edge of the template. No expert mechanical skill was needed. This machine was known as the milling machine. He first tested his invention on muskets. The federal government's investment and support enabled Whitney to prove the feasibility of his system and establish it as the ...