Claire S. answered • 07/26/19
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Whenever any nation relies too much on one product (or even a small group of them) to keep their economy strong, it can be dangerous. If someone else can provide the same product at a lower price, there's no reason for anyone to buy from you, at your higher price. If you have a product that can be affected by disease or natural disasters, something could happen that could affect your ability to even get your product to market at all. What happens if you have an economy with only a few options for bringing in money, and the products you've been focusing on don't bring in any of that money? What institutions would be affected if something happened? Who, among the people, would be affected? How bad would the fall out be?
Claire S.
It could also be useful to compare the South versus the North--the North had a diversified economy, in which the vast majorities of its workers were given wages (not always fair ones!). There were big industries, but also numerous small ones that people could afford to run. There were many, many products being created, sold, and circulated. The South had a small number of people at the top, a small number of exports, a lot of people held captive and enslaved against their will, and a large, poor lower class.07/26/19