During the late 1790's the South's economic system was taking an enormous downfall. The region had depressed prices, unmarketable products, dead soil, and, most importantly, an unprofitable slave system. But, in 1793, Eli Whitney changed all of that with the invention of the cotton gin. This invention made the production of cotton more popular than any other crop in the South, including the South's once most dependable crop, tobacco. Because of the quick profits that came along with the growing of cotton, many planters were drawn to the untouched bottomlands of the gulf states. Because of the booming economic system of planting, planters bought more and more slaves to pick their money making item, cotton.

Cotton did not only economically boost the South. Northern shippers felt a large part of the profits from the cotton trade. Northerners would transport bales of cotton at southern ports, transfer them to England...