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Eli Whitney was born on December 8, 1765, in West borough, Massachusetts. Growing up, Whitney, whose father was a farmer, proved to be a talented mechanic and inventor. Among the objects he designed and built as a youth were a nail forge and a violin. In 1792, after graduating from Yale College (now Yale University), Whitney headed to the South. He originally planned to work as a private tutor but instead accepted an invitation to stay with Catherine Greene (1755–1814), the widow of an American Revolutionary War (1775-83) general, on her plantation, known as Mulberry Grove, near Savannah, Georgia. While there, Whitney learned about cotton production–in particular, the difficulty cotton farmers faced making a living.
They found fertile soil, which they used to grow a variety of crops.
They found the soil unusable, and they had to rely on fishing and hunting for food.
They discovered sandy soil, which they had to convert to grassland in order to grow crops.
They shared their knowledge of crop rotation with Native Americans in order to establish trade.
