fertile soil and milder climate led to larger farms and cash crops; availability of natural resources led to small-scale manufacturing, lumbering, and mining; good ports allowed trade.
When writing an essay like this, I would devote one paragraph to talking about how supply and demand dictate prices, and another paragraph to how international trade fuels economic growth.
Lincoln thought of the Southern secession as "artificial." When Jefferson Davis sent a group of commissioners to Washington to negotiate for the transfer of Fort Sumter to South Carolina, they were promptly rebuffed. ... He would send no arms, troops, or ammunition — unless, of course, South Carolina attacked.