Athens is located in Greece, and Greece is a country that has a Mediterranean climate. The Mediterranean climate, as well as the soil type in Greece, is a natural place for the growth of olive trees and wine trees that produce fruits of high quality. Athens used this, and by making products from both of these trees, olive oil from the olive trees, and wine from the wine trees, they were making a lot of wealth because of this products were in high demand and not many places had the conditions for growing these trees and making products from them. Also Athens was very active in the sea trade and had contacts all over the Mediterranean, and that just opened up a larger market for their products.
Reconstruction is largely seen as a failure, and many historians believe this was primarily because the South for so long had been dependent on slaves that in one swift motion the South's entire livelihood shifted. This dramatic shift was too much for the Southerners to absorb at once, and harsh Jim Crow laws sprang up.
