April 23, 2009
I’ve got this book called “Her Story” and it’s a timeline starting in 1587 until present day of women who are really cool (often went unnoticed) and! in 1807, Catherine Greene gave Whitney the idea of a cottin gin and then he took full credit of inventing it. jerkface.
April 26th, 2009 at 10:19 am
wait, really?! Did she not do anything because she is a woman??
April 26th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Wait. That’s so weird that even our history text book didn’t try and correct that. laaame.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Honestly, its a great idea and Eli’s a dick for taking entire credit for it, but I believe had the idea remained in her head and she hadn’t shared it with Whitney, the cotton gin probably wouldn’t have ever been created. I can’t pretend to know her educational background, however I’m going to make the assumption that Yale-graduate Whitney probably had means and connections this woman did not. Also, male inventors were both culturally accepted and encouraged. Its doubtful Catherine would have created the cotton gin had Whitney not. It’s not like they were in a race for it.
Quality idea, Catherine.
April 27th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Aside from the issue that Eli took Catherine’s credit, I think it’s kind of odd that we pay so much attention to the cotton gin and its inventor. I get that it changed the cotton industry and increased the importance of slaves etc, but I feel like there have been many technological inventions which have changed the face of the economy, and we never learn who invented them. Who invented the chainsaw? Who invented the battery? Who invented the steam-powered train? I have no idea. Why is it obligatory learning for every history class that Eli Whitney or whoever actually did invented the cotton gin? Who arbitrarily chose him as the poster-boy for american invention in the nineteenth century?
May 6th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Did Catherine Greene have like the exact way it was going to be built in her mind or did she write it down. If she made a blueprint of how it was to built or something and then Eli Whitney is a complete asshole, but if he come up with improvments for her orginal idea than I don’t think he’s as bad as what people say. He did bring it to the world after all, of course that could have only been because of greed… Hmmmm. ARRGGH so many unanswered questions!!!
May 6th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I know. i wish i knew more information but that’s all it says in my book. I just did a quick wiki search on greene, and here’s a quote from wiki (it’s not fact! it’s just from wiki! but still…)
“That same year, Catherine met a young man named Eli Whitney, who tutored her neighbor’s children. With her encouragement he took up residence at Mulberry Grove to pursue his inventions. Within a year he had produced a model for the cotton gin. It is often noted that Greene actually invented the cotton gin, but due to only men being able to apply for patents at the time, Whitney applied for the patent, and thus takes credit for the cotton gin, in place of Catherine Greene.”
so basically…we don’t really know.
May 9th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I agree with Rachel. The cotton gin would probably never have been invented if a man hadn’t taken credit. Catherine Greene was not even allowed to patent her idea. Did Whitney take the credit on purpose, or did he put the invention down in his name as a favor?
May 9th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Andreas Stihl invented the first modern chainsaw. there was a surgeon before him who invited something like it in order to amputate limbs. fun
May 9th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
the leg chainsaw was called a osteotome. it had sharp little teeth on the blade instead of just a chain.