Some southerners thought northerners benefited from cotton without the costs of slavery while southerners accrued debt. They also envisioned a slave empire that could include Mexico, asserting the South didn't need the Union.
- Some southerners believed that northerners reaped the benefits of the cotton trade without fronting the costs of slavery while southerners fell deeper into debt.
- Others believed the South did not need the Union because the region could become the center of a slave empire encompassing the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico.
- Cotton's profitability in the South relied heavily on the institution of slavery, with the Mississippi River Valley becoming an epicenter for cotton production.
- This fostered economic dependence for the South on northern markets for manufactured goods and loans.
- Furthermore, the idea of a slave empire was fueled by desires to expand slavery beyond the United States, envisioning countries like Mexico as potential parts of this empire.