In this major reexamination of the southern industrial economy and its failure to progress during the antebellum period, Fred Bateman and Thomas Weiss show that slavery and its consequences were not alone in inhibiting industrialization. They argue, rather, that the planters hesitated to invest in high-risk enterprises and worried that industrialization would undermine their authority. Underpinning this study is a massive data collection from census reports, which permits an economic analysis that was previously not feasible.

This collection of twelve essays is based on the premise that a better understanding of the economic development process can be gained by studying the history of those countries that have experienced long-term economic success, in this case the United States during the 19th century.