[Non-Sequitur]

As you said, without the slaves the south had no middle class to replace these lost workers. An asset that evanescent is not an asset it's a drain.

No, what I said was that the South had an active middle class who embraced slavery as enthusiastically as the upper class did.

With slaves they could never establish the capitalist elements of true wealth, capital, factories, banks and other businesses.

All probably true, but it is due more to a lack of interest in investing in those areas than a lack of capitol. James D. B. DeBow was an early and fervent advocate of Southen economic expansion and diversification, giving facts and figures as to why it was in the South's best interest. He was widely ignored.

[muir_redwoods]

"James D. B. DeBow was an early and fervent advocate of Southen economic expansion and diversification, giving facts and figures as to why it was in the South's best interest. He was widely ignored."

He and I agree and are right. Those who disagree were and are wrong.

BTW A block of subsistance farmers, slave owning or not, is not a middle class. The bulk of humans in history were subsistance farmers and they were never a middle class. Capitalism invented the middle class.