Poland lost a good chunk of people, it didn't miss them. But there was much less of an effect because of the colder temperature and isolation in that country was much higher (they didn't have the large compacted cities like England).
It's probably the cotton gin, it was known for producing cotton like crazy.
Allowed for echolocation and underwater discoveries such as study of marine life
The south was agriculturally advanced while the north was not. The North was perfect for factories therefore machines were built to easily transfer raw materials in to usable products.