Eli Whitney

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.