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Handout
PBS

Pbs: Africans in America: Part 3: Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin

For Students 9th - 10th
History of Eli Whitney and his cotton gin. Other links to sites with information on this topic.
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Website
Other

Eli Whitney Museum: Eli Whitney

For Students 9th - 10th
This is the Eli Whitney Museum online. Provides information on the inventor, his product, his factory, and much more. Also provides information on the museum itself. Flashpoint not needed, but recommended.
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Handout
PBS

Pbs: Who Made America?: Innovators: Eli Whitney

For Students 9th - 10th
One-page profile of influential innovator, Eli Whitney, whose vision and ideas created the cotton gin and what would later be known as "mass production".
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Handout
Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press.

New Georgia Encyclopedia: History and Archaeology: Eli Whitney in Georgia

For Students 9th - 10th
Although Eli Whitney was born in Massachusetts, it was in Georgia that he invented the cotton gin in 1793.
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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Eli Whitney Cotton Gin

For Students 9th - 10th
Presents a summary and list of interesting facts on the Eli Whitney Cotton Gin that revolutionized the cotton industry in the South.
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Handout
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Inventor of the Week: Eli Whitney

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site from the MIT Invention Dimension provides the history of Eli Whitney's cotton gin. Important part of the Industrial Revolution.
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Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Eli Whitney

For Students 9th - 10th
This Wikipedia online encyclopedia site offers a brief biography of Eli Whitney (1765-1825 CE), inventor of the cotton gin and many other things. The encyclopedia entry provides many hyperlinks to terms as well as an illustration of...
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Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Education: Spotlight Biography Inventors

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides information on American inventors Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney, Thomas Jefferson, Isaac Singer, Wilbur Wright, Thomas Alva Edison, Elias Howe, and Alexander Graham Bell. It offers pictures from and...
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Lesson Plan
Ohio State University

Osu History Teaching Institute: The Cotton Gin

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This instructional activity will help students understand the importance of the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1794.
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Primary
US National Archives

Our Documents: Patent for Cotton Gin (1794)

For Students 9th - 10th
Interactive image of Eli Whitney's plans for the cotton gin, accompanied by an explanation of the cotton gin's purpose and significance in relation to the Industrial Revolution.
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Article
University of Houston

University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1252: Interchangeable Parts

For Students 9th - 10th
A fun-to-read article on the history of interchangeable parts. Find out that Eli Whitney was not the first to have this manufacturing idea, but he capitalized on it. This is a transcript of an accompanying radio broadcast.
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Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: How Inventions Change History (For Better and for Worse)

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief video that describes the unintended consequence of Eli Whitney's cotton gin. [5:14] Followed by a quiz and a list of additional resources to explore.
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Handout
Science4Fun

Science4 Fun: Cotton Gin

For Students K - 1st
Illustrated article discusses Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin, and how the cotton gin works.
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Website
A&E Television

History.com: Inventions & Science

For Students 9th - 10th
Inventions from the telephone to the Model T and the computer have defined human history, and inventors like Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Eli Whitney and Alexander Graham Bell have transformed our society.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Smithsonian Education: Spotlight Biography Inventors

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides information on American inventors Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney, Thomas Jefferson, Isaac Singer, Wilbur Wright, Thomas Alva Edison, Elias Howe, and Alexander Graham Bell. It offers pictures from and...
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Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Movement South and Westward

For Students 9th - 10th
Following Eli Whitney's invention in 1793 of the cotton gin -- a machine that separated raw cotton from seeds and other waste -- the cotton market boomed. Planters in the South bought land from small farmers who frequently moved farther...
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Handout
Digital History

Digital History: Pre Civil War South

For Students 9th - 10th
A comprehensive look at the economy of the South and the changes brought by the cotton gin. Read through five pages that discuss the economy, the tradition of the plantation, and the sectionalism that arises in this time period.
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eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: A Vibrant Capitalist Republic

For Students 11th - 12th
By reading this section of a chapter on "Industrial Transformation in the North," students will be able to explain the process of selling western land, discuss the causes of the Panic of 1819, and identify key American innovators and...
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Website
A&E Television

History.com: Black History Milestones

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed account of the history of African Americans is presented in this article. Divided by main topics or periods of time, the coming of slavery to America is the first focus. Followed by plantation life and escapes to freedom and...
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Handout
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of Us: Wake Up, America!

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource covers the changing of America due to the Industrial Revolution which brought in not only new technology but also opened the door to reform movements. From the series by Joy Hakim, "A History of Us." Includes a teacher's...
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Unit Plan
Have Fun With History

Have Fun With History: Industrial Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Multi media learning module with videos for students and teachers to learn about the Industrial Revolution and how America moved from and agricultural society to an urban machine-based production in the 19th Century.
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Website
Cornell University

Cornell University: Library: I Will Be Heard: A Slave's Life

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief look at how slavery in America was tied to the crops grown in the South. See how the need for skilled workers was decreased and the use of unskilled slaves increased with the introduction of the cotton gin.
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Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Cotton Promotes Slavery

For Students 3rd - 8th
A brief history of how the economic growth of the South became dependent on the work of slaves and how this solidified the unity of the southern states. Links throughout the text will take to you sites containing relevant information.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Industrial Revolution [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site covers both the initial Industrial Revolution in the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and the second revolution that highlighted new inventions and the businessmen who financed industry. Read brief...

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