As a young boy growing up in Westboro, Massachusetts it became clear that young Eli Whitney had a passion for all things mechanical. Born in 1765, Whitney spent his childhood on the family farm, however he was fascinated with machine work and technology. By age 12 it was more than apparent where Whitney’s passion was centered, he had already been tinkering with his father’s watch, taking it completely apart and re-assembling it as well as building his own violin. He even started his own business forging nails during the Revolutionary War and had employees to help with the operations of his business. Young Whitney appeared to have what it took to be a successful businessman so he chose to attend the University of Yale in 1789 and graduated in three years with some intent on becoming a lawyer. Like most young people today, Whitney had debts to pay off so he took a job as a tutor on a plantation in South Carolina. There is some dispute on why Whitney never made it to South Carolina. Some accounts claim that he received word that the salary was half of what had been previously discussed, whereas others say that once meeting Catherine Greene he decided to take her job offer rather than the one in South Carolina. What is in fact certain is that when Whitney met Ms. Catherine Greene, the widow of a Revolutionary War general, Greene offered Whitney a job reading law at Ms. Greene’s Mulberry Grove plantation in Georgia. Once there he met another Yale alum by the name of Phineas
In 1840 she met a man named Henry B. Stanton. He was an abolitionist which is
Andrew Carnegie was one of the wealthiest men in America but his wealth didn’t come without hard work and dedication. Carnegie was born in “Dunfermline, Scotland on November 25, 1835” (Tyle). According to Laura B. Tyle, the invention of the weaving machine unfortunately pushed Carnegie’s family in to poverty “In 1848, Carnegie’s family left Scotland and moved to Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, where his father and eventually him worked in a cotton factory” (Tyle). After leaving the cotton factory “Carnegie became a messenger boy for the Pittsburgh telegraph office and eventually made his way up to telegraph operator” (Tyle). According to Laura B. Tyle “Thomas A. Scott, the superintendent of the western division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, made Carnegie his secretary at the age of eighteen.” Later, Carnegie took over Scott’s position of the railroad. Furthermore Carnegie “began to see that steel was going to replace iron and by 1873 he organized a steel rail company” (Tyle). According to Laura B. Tyle he continued to build his company when he “cut prices, drove out competitors,
Throughout the course of history, there have been many important people whose names shall be known forever. But what about the people who shaped the world, but didn’t get the fame? Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, or Eliza Hamilton, was one of those people. Eliza Hamilton was born in 1757 in Albany, New York, and she died at the age of 97 in Washington, D.C. When she was 23 years old, she married the man who would forever change her future: Alexander Hamilton. As well as performing the expected hardships of being a mother in the 18th century, Eliza also greatly helped Alexander with his work. She helped him write many of his essays and speeches, and she gave him advice about all aspects of his work in the colonial government. Eliza’s devoted work
In the short story, “Marigolds,” Eugenia Collier tells the story of a young African-American girl, Lizabeth, as she transitions from adolescence to womanhood in Maryland during the Great Depression. Throughout the story, Lizabeth and Miss Lottie, a very poor old woman, experience hope in similar ways. Lizabeth describes her neighbor, “Now at the end of that life [Miss Lottie] had nothing except a falling-down hut, a wrecked body, and John Burke, the mindless son of her passion. Whatever verve there was left in her, whatever was of love and beauty and joy that had not been squeezed out by life, had been there in the marigolds she had so tenderly cared for” (638). This quotation best exemplifies the main point Collier makes in the story.
Ethan Allen educated locally. He furthered his studies under protection of a ambassador from Salisbury, Connecticut with hopes of gaining admission to Yale College. Though he possessed the intellect for higher education, he was prevented attending Yale College when his father died in 1755.
Based on the evidence supplied by author Kent Anderson Leslie, slaves in antebellum Georgia did not always live under the oppressive system of chattel labor. According to Leslie, the rules that applied to racial hierarchy were not strictly enforced, especially when it came to propertied and wealthy planters such as David Dickson who chose to raise his mixed-race daughter at home. Amanda Dickson’s experiences during Reconstruction demonstrate that she had much more freedom after slavery was abolished than may have been expected before the Civil War. Amanda Dickson’s experiences and those of her mother in particular do not fit the presumed mold of oppressed slave with no opportunity for a better life.
Glenda Gilmore, in her essay “Forging Interracial Links in the Jim Crow South,” attempts to tackle the charged concepts of feminism and race relations during the infamous Jim Crow era. Her analysis focuses on both the life and character of a black woman named Charlotte Hawkins Brown, a highly influential member of the community of Greensboro, North Carolina. Brown defied the odds given her gender and race and rose to a prominent place in society through carefully calculated interracial relations. Gilmore argues that in rising above what was expected of her as a black woman, Brown was forced to diminish her own struggles as a black woman, and act to placate
In the late 1800s, manufacturing became a large part of American lives. This era affected the way that the Americans used to live, the standard of living for many people in the United States improved and increased wealth. “During this time, pioneering agricultural innovators created simple machines that made farming easy, faster, and more efficient. Among the most notable of these machines was English inventor Jethro Tull’s (1674–1741) seed drill” (Industrial Revolution). Businesses started to boom due to the simplicity and the load these machines took of their shoulders. Another vital role in the Industrial Revolution was the development of new methods for producing iron and steel. Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-born American industrialist, amassed a
Elijah McCoy was an African American who had may inventions that changed the world of train travel, but faced many hardships along the way. Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada, and was later sent to Edinburgh, Scotland by his parents to study mechanical engineering, he then moved to Detroit, Michigan. Due to racism he could only get a job as a fireman or oilman on a steam-engine train. McCoy 's first invention the automatic lubricator was a revolutionary way of lubricating steam engines without having to shut them down for long periods of time which saved an enormous amount of time and effort in transportation.
Eli Whitney was born in Massachusetts. After his successful high school career, he attended Yale college with intentions to become a lawyer. However, he decided that he wanted something more. He pursued something more mechanical knowing that he would
My family’s past is one full of interesting characters who have made a lasting impact on America as we know it. My research is based mostly from one of my cousins, Sandy Lee, who has researched our family tree herself over the past few years, providing me with several documents, portraits, and noteworthy accomplishments of my ancestors. Multiple names carry significance in my family. Some include, “Warren” (ancestor on my paternal grandmother’s side) and “Rush” (ancestor on my paternal grandfather’s side) both direct ancestors. Richard Warren is the furthest ancestor back in time whom I am researching and he came to America aboard the Mayflower in 1620. He had a relatively substantial family that passed down his legacy. I am also a descendant of a Declaration of Independence signer, Benjamin Rush. Rush studied
James was a very quick witted man since the time of his early childhood. He studied with a private tutor because he was often sickly, and at age 18 he left his home in Port Conway to go attend the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton). James graduated in two years after intensive study and working through summers. James graduated with an degree in ethics. He returned home in very poor health but, continued to study, with a major interest in law.
During this time, he held odd jobs such as assistant cook, launderer, and busboy. He studied for only one year at the college, though, as he wanted to study literature instead of engineering. He also was upset by the racial discrimination he encountered there. Soon after quitting, in 1923, Langston Hughes got a job on the S.S. Malone. For 6 months, he traveled to various places around the world, including Europe and Africa.
In the years following the war, once everything had settled down and the United States of America was whole again, technology really began to pick up. At the start of the 1870s, America was in the beginning stages of becoming a very technologically advanced nation. Some of the key ingredients that America already had for the future were, electricity, steal, railroads, chemistry, and the most important one of all engineers of production. These engineers were innovators and wanted to be able to mass-produce anything that they could. In order to mass-produce at a high capacity, the engineers believed that America must create parts interchangeably. This enabled manufacturers to manufacture things such as, guns, clocks, bicycles, typewriters, and even engines very quickly. Whether America knew it or not, this was the beginning to something that would forever change the way the world operated.