The Cotton Gin
The 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. The gin (short for engine) consists of wire teeth mounted on a boxed rotating cylinder that, when cranked, pulled cotton fiber through small grates to separate the seeds. When Whitney first moved to Georgia in 1793, short-staple cotton had only recently been introduced to Georgia . The economic impact of Whitney's Gin was vast.