# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/eli-whitney
# Generated: 2026-08-31T18:39:36.272Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/eli-whitney"
name: "Eli Whitney"
slug: "eli-whitney"
description: "He built a machine that made cotton wildly profitable—and in doing so locked the economics of American slavery into place for another sixty years."
tagline: "American inventor (1765-1825)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Eli_Whitney_by_Samuel_Finley_Breese_Morse_1822.jpeg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1765-12-08"
deathDate: "1825-01-08"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           54.76
  momentum:             0
  historical:           22.090896
  currentAttention:     7.714285714285715
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Scientists"
    slug: "scientists"
  - name: "Scientist"
    slug: "scientist"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Science"
    slug: "science"
  - name: "United States"
    slug: "united-states"
  - name: "Americas"
    slug: "americas"
  - name: "Early Modern Era"
    slug: "early-modern-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q280930"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Eli%20Whitney"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9_%D0%A3%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8"
    title: "Илай Уитни"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%84%D8%A7%DB%8C_%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%AA%D9%86%DB%8C"
    title: "ایلای ویتنی"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%99_%D7%95%D7%99%D7%98%D7%A0%D7%99"
    title: "איליי ויטני"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D4%B7%D5%AC%D5%AB_%D5%88%D6%82%D5%AB%D5%A9%D5%B6%D5%AB"
    title: "Էլի Ուիթնի"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Whitney"
    title: "Eli Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9B%E3%82%A4%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E3%83%8B%E3%83%BC"
    title: "イーライ・ホイットニー"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A5%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A_%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%86%D9%8A"
    title: "إيلي ويتني"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%89_%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%86%D9%89"
    title: "ايلى ويتنى"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793, a device that could clean upland short cotton fast enough to turn it into a cash crop across the South. The invention reshaped the region's economy and cemented slavery as its foundation, though Whitney himself spent years losing money in patent lawsuits as others copied the design. After the legal fights drained him, he pivoted to arms manufacturing, securing government contracts to produce muskets for the young United States Army. He kept at that work—making weapons, tinkering with production—until he died in January 1825.