Monday, January 24, 2011

Who really invented the cotton gin?


Almost every history book says that Eli Whitney "invented" the cotton gin. But should he really get credit for that important invention?

Your assignment is to summarize the Whitney's claim in a well written paragraph, as well as the three other claims from the Smithsonian lesson. Then explain who has the best claim to be the "real" inventor, and explain your reasons.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think that eli whitney should get credit because he is the one that invented the machine. i think that katherine green just helped with the brush. if it wasnt for eli invention maybe it still wouldnt still be invented.

anthony inchaurregui
p.2

Anonymous said...

Luz Verdugo &&' Emmanuel Ramirez
Period 2
Jan. 25,2011

I think they should all get credit because they all helped complete the cotton gin. Catharine Greene fixed the seed problem in the cotton gin, Eli Whitney perfected it, and sold it, and the African slaves gave an idea on how to take off the seeds off the cotton. I think Eli Whitney deserves the most credit because he put all the information together and created a machine called the cotton gin.

Anonymous said...

CRYSTAL, DANIEL,PR.2

Well we believe that everyone should get credit but the person who deserves the most credit was eli witney because he was the person who started it all.

Anonymous said...

P.2
Angel M. & Ricky M.
We think Eli Whitney shoud really get credit for the cotton gin because he actually thought of the idea of making the cotton gin and he just used some ideas from other people to help him. Also, he designed most of the cotton gin and developed it. Lastly, he marketed it and helped it spread.

Anonymous said...

Adrian S. Melisa. R. Per:2 The person that deserves the most credit would be the southern planters because they invented devices similar to the cotton gin to make it easier but Eli just made it more modern. Eli Whitney took credit for the southern planter's idea and Eli also improved it. Southern planters had the basic idea so they desserve full credit.

Anonymous said...

Stephany L. Tania C per.2
Whitney believed he invented the machinery for cotton.This was a lie though. The machine had already been invented by the English people.Whitney had only improved the machine,but shouldn't receive the credit for the invention The slaves should get greater credit because they were the people who had the raw idea of the machine.Eli came along and improved the machine. The machine at that point had already been invented though. Slaves ideas were not to be used for they were not considered as a whole person. Giving out their ideas was not allowed and their owners were not to use it either.

Anonymous said...

well after analyzing the different stories, i think that eli can get more credit for it. We think because he left his job because he heard that there would be a reward for creating a cottin seed remover. So then he went to london to have seapret time to concentrate and create the cottin gin!!!!

ashley fiqueroa
cynthia garcia
period 2

Anonymous said...

Katherine P. & Monica O. period 2
We think that all of them should get credit for the cotton gin. But we think that Eli should get the most credit because he took the slaves idea from the comb and made it better by combining it with the southern planters roller gin. He also took Catherine's suggestion, and perfected his cotton gin. So even though Eli Whitney did take some ideas from people, he should still get the credit for putting it all together and making his wonderful invention because he was the only one who could do it.

Anonymous said...

Rafael Benavides
EDUARDO FLORES!!y
per 2

Well we think the real invetors of the cotton gin are the slaves. The slaves memorized hoe to build the cotton gin but they couldnt patent it and sell their cotton gin becuase they where not citizens of the united states of america. the people also stold the ideas and the structures of how to do the cotton gin from the slaves wich were making the machinery. the slaves were also the ones that were using their strength to make and even check if the machine actually worked well to take off the seeds of the cotton.

Anonymous said...

Well we think the real invetors of the cotton gin are the slaves. The slaves memorized hoe to build the cotton gin but they couldnt patent it and sell their cotton gin becuase they where not citizens of the united states of america. the people also stold the ideas and the structures of how to do the cotton gin from the slaves wich were making the machinery. the slaves were also the ones that were using their strength to make and even check if the machine actually worked well to take off the seeds of the cotton.

Anonymous said...

Sophia Ramirez & Jocelyn Avila P.2

The English invented a machine that was able to remove the seeds from the cotton. The Americans wanted the machine but England wouldn't show us their design. So the americans started creating a similar model which at first it didn't work. Thats when Whitney came in. He lived in England and had an idea of how the machine was built so he moved to the USA. He came to work as a tutor for Catherine Greene when he got interested into creating a new model. Whitney created one ,butit wasn't working so great since not all the seeds were cleaned out. Thats when Catherine had the idea of putting a brush to make sure all the seeds were cleaned out. There are rumors that say Whitney stold the ideas from slaves. They also said that the machine was already invented. In our opinion Whitney is the one who should get the credit since he put it all together.

Anonymous said...

Cesar S. Lupe S. period 2
Eli Whitney should get the credit for inventing the ''Cotton Gin'' because he came up with the main idea of the machine. The rest of the people just added to the machine but Eli came up with the basic design and idea. Like Catherine Greene only changed the cylinder teeth into a hearth brush.

Anonymous said...

Bianca g Brenda t
per.2

we believe that Eli Whitney deserves most of the credit. it was his original idea. this invention solved a problem and made human life easier. although it was not his intention the cotton gin encouraged slavery. but eli did create an invetion it did not exist before and it destinguished from any ordinary piece of mechinary.

Anonymous said...

Ivan Fernandez & Leo
per:2 1/25/11

the true maker is a bunch of people not just one.We think that Eli Whitney was the most important.We think this because he created the main base and every one just improved his design by adding little things or fixing little problems so with out the other people his invintion wouldnt have been soo goo so really every one should get a little credate but him the most.

Juan Montes said...

Hodgen Holmes should get the credit because he used saw teeth first and Eli Whitney used saw teeth in his later models. But ELi made a successful cotton gin before anyone. ELi got his ideas from previous ideas, he got his ideas from Hodgen so he should get the most credit.

Anonymous said...

diana v / samantha s
period:4
The egyptions were the ones who invented thee first gin, Eli Whitney made one but it whas with saws and the egypts was a roller

Anonymous said...

Melissa H.
Anthony J
Per.4

We Think That Eli Whitney Was the main inventor Because, He was the one who first made it. The other People Just Profected it as the Years went by.

Anonymous said...

Marlene Garcia P.6
Stephanie Fernandez
1/25/11

I think Eli whitney should'nt get the credit for inventing the invention because he was the one who thought of the solution to the seeds problem, it was Caty. If it wasn't for her, then he would;nt have finished the invention at all & it wouldnt have been published. So, ithink Caty should recieve the credit.

Anonymous said...

Karlo Montes de Oca Gonzalo Gutierrez
Per.6

Well, Eli was basically using using everyones ideas. He used the slaves brush, Greene's idea of a brush to keep the cotton from getting it stuck. The person who most deserves the credit for this important invention is Hodgen Holmes. He started five years before Eli.

Anonymous said...

Jorge Mora & Ronnie Ortiz_ period 6

The Egyptains really created the cooton gin because they created the whole idea. Other people just modifided it to make it better.

Anonymous said...

Faith T.
p6
I think that the real inventor of the "cotton gin" were the slaves. I think this because it was originally their idea. The only reason they didnt get credit was because they were not citizins.

M. Albert said...

I see that there were a variety of opinions, and all of you gave good reasons to back up your ideas.

It's a good thing that you did research to find out that the story behind the cotton gin was more complex than the history textbook stated.

I wonder what other events in history do we take for granted -- that is, we think we know all the facts, but maybe things are not so simple.

Anonymous said...

Andrew jackson democrticly because he is making the poor feel jealous of of the rich. jackson is saying that the bank is to powerful and rich are using it for there own pupose.

per3 Cristian.P Samantha.o

Anonymous said...

He defanatly should of gotten credit.