Not only did Eli Whitney invent the cotton gin, but he was also a pioneer in the use of mass-production methods. A 1792 graduate of Yale, Whitney, the following year, designed and constructed the gin that quickly and easily separated cottonseed from the short-staple cotton fiber. His gin could produce 50 pounds of cleaned cotton per day, and played a major role in making cotton for the first time a profitable crop in the South. Whitney, himself, failed to profit from the device. His patent was not validated until 1807, and many imitations of his cotton gin appeared before that time. His firearms factory in New Haven, CT, was one of the first to use mass-production techniques. The plant was built to honor a 1798 contract with the U.S. government to make 10,000 muskets.