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But they didn't. Instead they concentrated on agricultural production and enjoyed the highest per capita income in the country because of it.

Did you guys forget why we were talking about this?

The whole point of this was that Southern investments were turning away from plantations and slave labor, and serious improvements were being introduced to allow them to compete with Northern shipping.

So then what did navigation laws and warehousing acts have to do with secession? If those were no longer going to be issues, what was?

"Did you guys forget why we were talking about this?"

They are so used to using "extremes" to try to refute a point, that their convoluted logic has caused them to go into reverse gear. And they will reverse again, thus completing a circle of logic. Reminds me of that early 70s song, "You Got Me Going in Circles".

"The whole point of this was that Southern investments were turning away from plantations and slave labor, and serious improvements were being introduced to allow them to compete with Northern shipping."

That is exactly right. These guys look as if they have never read anything on the South of the 1850s. Shipbuilding and warehousing were on the increase. Banking and finance were becoming competitive. The South was turning more toward their own manufacturing.

And with secession, all of these industries would no longer be regulated by Federal Laws. The South would direct export and import with no taxes or tariffs. Newly dredged Charleston would compete with New York, and the New Orleans--Mississippi trade to the West would siphon off traffic on the other side of New York.

They were in a bad fix.