Two other events of the 1790s were significant, though unrelated to President Washington or Congress. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, which is a mechanical way to separate cotton from its thorny branch and seeds. The cotton gin enabled a machine to do the work of 50 men, and greatly increased cotton production by the South. It turned the South into a powerful economic force and made it the primary source of cotton production in the entire world. By the time of the [[Civil War]], the South thought it was invincible due to its ability to produce cotton ("King Cotton"), and how the entire world depended on the South for this basic ingredient of so many things at the time. | Two other events of the 1790s were significant, though unrelated to President Washington or Congress. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, which is a mechanical way to separate cotton from its thorny branch and seeds. The cotton gin enabled a machine to do the work of 50 men, and greatly increased cotton production by the South. It turned the South into a powerful economic force and made it the primary source of cotton production in the entire world. By the time of the [[Civil War]], the South thought it was invincible due to its ability to produce cotton ("King Cotton"), and how the entire world depended on the South for this basic ingredient of so many things at the time. |