It’s a big difference that while slavery was economically advantageous relative to the alternative e.g. paid farm laborers, it doesn’t mean that the South was going to be economically dominant vis a vis the North. The North had plenty of economic advantages due to industrialization and trade. The South was broke by war’s end in part due to the fact that they were dependent on the North and Europe to buy their crops. This is another argument for slavery not being sustainable from a moral standpoint as the developed world’s views on it changed. Ultimately secession was a cowardly and impulsive move that should be decried. Fighting for it was even worse and the South with slavery was doomed in general. Unfortunately, outside of slavery, racism was what kept together the poor white population despite the huge wealth gap. That legacy still exists, which is why the Confederate flag and heritage stuff still lives on. A longing for the good old days when Southerners were gentlemen and the blacks “knew their place.” Pretty disgusting stuff.