I hadnt thought of slavery & cotton being the chief drivers of US wealth but have been running into statements like this recently. It looks like even at the height of cotton production <15% of the population were slaves. I found sites saying that cotton accounted for half of US exports and was vitally important worldwide for trade. The US still ran a trade deficit during this time and much of ecomic growth would be local rather than international? It seems like there is a debate about the importance of exports for US growth during the 1800s. When cotton exports were cut off in the Civil War, the effect on the North did not seem very significant relative to the South with its much weaker nonindustrial economy? And the end of slavery after the Civil War did not destroy American economic growth? My take is that slavery contributed to the US development but was but one factor among many but I am trying to find out if I am totally off here?