In the early 19th century the state of Georgia was heavily dependant on the production of tabacco and long-staple Cotton, however land errosion and the over saturation of the tobacco market cause the Georgia economy to plummet. This however changed when Eil Whitney invented the Cotton Engine; better know as the cotton gin and the expansion of the railroad.
The invention or rather readaptation of the indian churka to clean short-staple cotton; which uptil this point had proven too laborous to be profitable and produced im mass, allowed the crop to finally be commercialized.
Furthermore the expansion of the railroad and advances in steam/coal engines allowed for the tobacco and cotton to be ship out to the growing textile and tobacco industries in the North to feed the ever growing demand.
These advances allowed Georgia economy to boom in the pre-civil war era; however, this in turn made Georgia's economy ever more dependant on slavery to grow, tend, harvest and load the crops to feed the textile and tobacco industry's insatiable hunger for raw matrials .
