Eli Whitney was a highly influential in the development in industrial technology. Born in Massachusetts 1765 Eli Whitney was best known for the invention of the cotton gin. Eli Whitney graduated Yale at the age of 23, he studied law and mathematics. However, what many people don't know is that he also thought of the idea of interchangeable parts. This was important because it allowed for mass production.
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As a result of Eli Whitney's action concept of mass production he was awarded a contract for 10,000 guns during the Revolutionary war. Prior to Eli Whitney's concept of interchangeable parts guns could take hours at a time because they all had to be handmade. As a result of this new technology, each factory could specialize in a particular aspect of production, thereby greatly speeding up the process. Eli Whitney's blueprints for the cotton gin got out to the public before he could finish making it, therefore having a lot of people trying to copy it. He sued multiple people losing his first case but winning others.
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