* The South was heavily reliant on slave labor for its economy, particularly in agriculture, especially cotton production. This reliance on slavery shaped everything from social structures to political beliefs.
* The North was primarily industrial and urbanized, with a far smaller slave population. They relied on free labor and saw slavery as morally wrong and economically inefficient.
This difference in economic systems created significant cultural, political, and social divides between the North and South, ultimately leading to the Civil War.