The effect of the invention of the cotton-gin was far-reaching, industrially and historically. In 1807, at a session of the United States District Court held in Savannah, Georgia, the inventor finally obtained judgment against the persons who had stolen his invention. In the opinion rendered in favor of Whitney, Judge Johnson said of the cotton-gin: "Is there a man who hears us who has not experienced its utility? The whole interior of the, Southern states was languishing, and its inhabitants were emigrating for the want of some object to engage their attention and employ their industry, when the invention of this machine at once opened new views to them which set the whole country in active motion. Individuals who were depressed with poverty and sunk in idleness have suddenly risen to wealth and respectability. Our debts have been paid off, our capitals have increased, and our lands have trebled themselves in value. We cannot express the weight of the obligation the country owes to this invention. The extent of it cannot now be seen. Some faint presentiment may be formed from the reflection that cotton is rapidly supplanting wool, flax, silk, and even furs, in manufactures, and may one day profitably supply the use of specie in our East India trade. Our sister states also participate in the benefits of this invention; for besides affording the raw material for their manufactures, the bulkiness and quantity of the article afford a valuable employment for their shipping." In the South "Cotton is king." The rise of the cotton industry dates from the invention of Eli Whitney's cotton-gin. Before its invention the labor of removing the seed from the fiber was so tedious that the growth of the cotton was not profitable. Partly because of this fact and partly because the Revolutionary War was just over, the South lay dormant; its plantations were heavily mortgaged, its people were moving away in streams. Then came a little machine that awoke the South from its sleep and made it rouse itself. It brought energy, hope, and prosperity, where before were languor, indifference, and stagnation. It increased the exportation of American cotton from less than 190,000 pounds in 1791 to 41,000,000 pounds in 1803.