Elms and Magnolias: The 18th Century

Eli Whitney & the Cotton Gin

Eli Whitney (1765-1825)
b. in Westborough, Massachusetts, Class of 1792

This member of the Class of 1792, invented the mechanism that gave the South its King, cotton. While on the plantation of Nathanael Greene's widow in Georgia, Whitney designed the cotton gin which made the spread of slavery and cotton profitable throughout the Southeast. Upon returning to New Haven and finding it difficult to obtain sole rights to the invention of the cotton gin, he began the mass production of guns for the Federal Government. It was this business venture that made Whitney a wealthy man, and helped instigate the Industrial Revolution in the United States.

Thomas Jefferson to Eli Whitney, November 16, 1793
Jefferson's letter is a reply to Whitney's application to the Federal Government for a patent for his invention. Jefferson gives Whitney the requirements to obtain a patent, and asks for more information because he is interested in purchasing a gin for his plantation in Virginia.

Abraham Baldwin & the University of Georgia

Abraham Baldwin (1754-1807) b. Guilford, Connecticut, Class of 1772
After serving as a chaplain in the Continental Army, Baldwin moved to Georgia upon the request of General Nathanael Greene. He served in the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention. His greatest contribution to the American South and the nation at large is his establishment of the University of Georgia in 1784 on the model of Yale, and Baldwin was its first president. The University of Georgia was the first public university in the United States to be chartered.

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The Nineteenth Century
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