Without the South the USA would be a fully socialist/communist country by now. The South would be 10 times better off without the North.
the souths prosperity was due to cotton, which was due to northern inventions such as the cotton gin.
Without that, the south would still be picking through the seeds by hand, and with productivity 1/100th that which existed with the cotton gin. Not worth making the special machines to spin card, or comb cotton. Not worth laying down railroads. Not worth sending more than one boat a year up the rivers.