You just know that all of a sudden they would. Got it.
So what was the Northern folk suddenly selling a lot of to Europe? More lumber? More fish? More leather goods?
How would I know what they would sell to Europe? What do know is that imports did not decrease but instead seem to have increased during the rebellion. The Europeans would have to figure out what they wanted and buy it from them.
They were getting those out of Europe, were they? Clearly you are attempting to make some sort of feeble joke here, and for what purpose I cannot guess, because it doesn't impress me, and I doubt it impresses your friends.
The jokes are from your end. What did the Southerners do with all the money they made by selling their millions of bales of cotton, their tobacco, their rice? They didn't establish new businesses with it like insurance or banking or shipping. They didn't build large urban areas. They invested in one item that would help them make more money - slaves. Slaves increased the amount of crop they could produce, provided a ready source of income if needed by just selling them, and made even more slaves. It was the one investment Southerners apparenly understood.
If you think they would just leave the money to pile up in a bank, then you do not have a good grasp on the nature of humanity. People tend to spend money when they get it.
How would I know what they would sell to Europe?
Exactly. Maybe they would import more Italian Marble for their mansions or more French fashion clothes for their parties. The thing is, if they have money, they will spend it, and capitalists will meet the demand.
What do know is that imports did not decrease but instead seem to have increased during the rebellion.
So explain this magic increase. If Europeans couldn't get enough of their fish after the war had started, why weren't the Europeans having the same demand for fish before the war?
It is unassailably true that Southern exports made up the bulk of trade with Europe before the war, and something else magically made up the bulk of trade with Europe after the war started. What did that trade consist of? Specie?
They invested in one item that would help them make more money - slaves.
This doesn't make sense on the face of it. The transport trade had ended in 1808, and there was no further source of supply other than subsequent generations being born. Presumably the people who were running the plantations already owned the slaves, so how do they "invest" in slaves other than employing the slaves they already had?
Wouldn't that leave their money free?