Whitney died of prostate cancer on January 8, 1825, in New Haven, Connecticut, just a month after his 59th birthday.

10 years

Deceased (1765–1825)

In 1789, Whitney started to attend Yale College and graduated in 1792, with some deliberation about becoming a lawyer. With Greene’s support, Whitney worked through the winter to devise a machine that was able to quickly and efficiently clean the cotton using a system of hooks, wires and a rotating brush.

For a while, people thought slavery might die out entirely. But technology intervened. Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin in 1793. The grand irony of all this is that the person who provided Whitney with the key idea for his gin was himself a slave, known to us only by the name Sam.

Whitney received a patent for his revolutionary invention on March 14, 1794. Optimistically, he believed his invention, by reducing the need for enslaved labor, would help hasten the end of southern slavery, while making Whitney himself a wealthy man.

Cotton gin

The cotton gin set the South on a path of agricultural expansion dependent upon the use of slave labor. Whitney’s manufacturing methods fueled the industrial development of the North. In the 1860s, the inevitable collision between the two systems resulted in the bloodbath of the American Civil War.

It revolutionized the cotton industry in the United States, but also led to the growth of slavery in the American South as the demand for cotton harvesting rapidly increased. The invention has thus been identified as an inadvertent contributing factor to the outbreak of the American Civil War.

While it was true that the cotton gin reduced the labor of removing seeds, it did not reduce the need for slaves to grow and pick the cotton. Cotton growing became so profitable for the planters that it greatly increased their demand for both land and slave labor.

The invention of the cotton gin, a device that separates cotton fibers from the seeds, is typically attributed to Eli Whitney, who was granted the patent in 1794. Yet, others contributed to its making — including a woman, Catherine Greene, and African slaves, two groups that gained little recognition for their input.

Eli Whitney

Slave owners often took credit for their slaves’ inventions. In one well-documented case, a black inventor named Ned invented an effective, innovative cotton scraper. His slave master, Oscar Stewart, attempted to patent the invention.

Lewis Howard Latimer (September 4, 1848 – December 11, 1928) was a black American inventor and patent draftsman. His inventions included an evaporative air conditioner, an improved process for manufacturing carbon filaments for light bulbs, and an improved toilet system for railroad cars.

Although Willis Carrier is largely credited with inventing the modern air conditioner, Frederick Jones, an African-American, invented the first portable air conditioning unit.

In our database, 87% of inventions were traced to people born in the United States, and 2.7% of the U.S. total were invented by Black Americans, which is a larger share than nearly every immigrant group.

George Washington Carver was an African American scientist and educator. Carver is famous for many inventions including a number of uses for the peanut.

John O’Sullivan

Larry Page

chief executive officer

Zhang Yiming

The typical duties, responsibilities, and job description of a CEO include: Communicating, on behalf of the company, with shareholders, government entities, and the public. Leading the development of the company’s short- and long-term strategy. Creating and implementing the company or organization’s vision and mission.