Like trading cotton or something that was around 60% of all US exports?
Discussion
And yet the south was still poorer than the north, because exports don't make a country rich 😮 imagine that!
Dude imagine how poor they’d be without the labor! Yes the North siphoned the wealth just like we do from the 3rd world, but stop with the slaves were not a big deal.
The south got richer after slavery ended. Similarly North Korea would become richer if people were allowed to freely produce & trade.
The point is that direct & coercive slavery does not create wealth. Innovation is the primary source of wealth. You cannot beat new ideas out of people. So the natural pressure of economic advancement makes slavery less economically sustainable.
Humans are a very costly form of livestock. They cannot be whipped or threatened into producing much above subsistence levels. The primary aim of human livestock management is to have them believe they are free or being helped by those enslaving them, once the illusion fails everything tends to fall apart.
Even the "free range" sort of fiat slavery we have today ultimately destroys the drive of the most intelligent & productive & ultimately causes society to collapse.