Laws have more heavier consequences, laws are the legal version of rules. They are enforced by the government. Rules can be passed by individuals while laws are set by government.
Most Southerners were wealthy people who invested most of their money in land especially cotton farming. This is because there was growing demand for textiles. They also invested in slaves so they preferred shipping via rivers and seas. The answer to our question is water travel.
The South's economy was completely devastated by the Civil War, since their economy had been almost entirely agricultural--meaning that they needed to implement entirely new economic programs after the North's victory.