The modern cotton gin, first patented by Massachusetts native Eli Whitney while in Georgia in 1793, is a simple machine that separates cotton fibers from the seeds
In 1794, U.S.-born inventor Eli Whitney (1765-1825) patented the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber. By the mid-19th century, cotton had become America's leading export
