1. Fact: In 1790 the South seemed to be an underdeveloped agricultural region with little prospect for future growth. Comparison or Contrast: 2. Fact: In the colonial period, tobacco was the most profitable crop in Virginia; Georgia and South Carolina produced rice and indigo. Comparison or Contrast: 3. Fact: In the late 1700s, a worker painstakingly separated the plant’s sticky seeds from the cotton fibers by hand, processing about one pound of cotton a day. Comparison or Contrast: 4. Fact: By 1860 the Upper South still produced tobacco, hemp, wheat, and vegetables. Comparison or Contrast: 5. Fact: In the industrial North, large numbers of people moved to the cities to be near factories and work. Comparison or Contrast: 6. Fact: In the 1840s and 1850s, the North experienced a railroad boom that connected cities from the Northeast to the Midwest. Comparison or Contrast: Fact Bank A. In the 1800s, with the use of a cotton gin, a worker could clean 50 pounds of cotton a day. B. The South remained overwhelmingly rural with only a small percentage of the nation’s industry. C. In the mid-1800s, cotton became the South’s leading cash crop. D. Southern rail lines were short, local, and did not connect all parts of the region in a network. E. At the same time, the Deep South was committed to cotton, and in some areas, rice and sugarcane. F. By 1850 the stagnant economy of the South had been transformed into a prosperous, robust economy.