On April 16, 1812 Eli Whitney petitioned Congress for renewal of the his patent on the cotton gin. In his petition, Whitney recounted the circumstances that led him to work on the gin and reviewed events that had transpired since the invention. Above are the first and last pages of his 8-page petition. Congress did not grant his request to renew the patent.

Petition of Eli Whitney requesting the renewal of his patent on the cotton gin, 4/16/1812, HR 12A-F11.2, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives (ARC 306631)

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  1. abeetlesblog reblogged this from congressarchives
  2. merlincrub reblogged this from congressarchives and added:
    patents are important. listen up people.
  3. congressarchives posted this