It’s odd because the South was utterly crushed in patents and new technology by the North, especially before the war. During the war, northerners invented (thanks to Dr. Richard Gatling) the Gatling Gun; then the Parrott Gun, the Dahlgren Gun; had a much more advanced submersible than the “Hunley” in the “Intelligent Whale,” had the Sharps breechloader (before the war) and the Spencer repeater in 1862, not to mention countless innovations in railroad technology; the first steam-powered ironclad in history with a revolving turret; and so on.
“had a much more advanced submersible than the “Hunley” in the “Intelligent Whale”
That might count if the Intelligent Whale had been launched during the war, but wasn’t finished before the war had ended. It was laid down in 1863 but not completed until 1866.
By contrast the Hunley not only was finished, it sank the USS Housatonic.