Eli Whitney's Novel Manufacturing Process
After Friday’s simulation of the United States’ economy, I thought it would be relevant to examine one of the most influential entrepreneurs in our history: Eli Whitney. This post is part 2 of a series examining Eli Whitney's contributions to United States history. If you have missed part 1, I recommend you check it out!
Another important invention of Eli Whitney’s was his revolutionary method for building muskets.
In the year 1798, Eli Whitney signed a contract with the United States government to build them thousands of muskets in two years, but at the time this wasn't possible because muskets had been traditionally built by craftsmen in workshops causing each rifle to be a unique weapon--a process which took a lot of time. By realizing the inefficiency of the current manufacturing methods and channeling his inner entrepreneurial spirit, Eli devised a more efficient way of building firearms by inventing machines which would create singular parts of rifles that were to be put together into one final product. Because these machines created almost identical parts, the rifles produced were identical and therefore better in the sense that they could have their parts swapped out should anything break. Eli’s production of interchangeable parts eventually led to assembly line manufacturing so that greater amounts of muskets could be built in shorter amounts of time. While Eli Whitney’s cotton gin was a cause of the Civil War, the manufacturing process he invented actually put an end to the conflict. Since the North had greater manufacturing power than the South, they were able to utilize Eli’s firearm manufacturing technique to better arm their soldiers and win the war. Eli Whitney is an example of how a single man can influence the future of an entire nation with his inventions, and his case shows how the entrepreneurial spirit has shaped America.
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