Dave, Read the Southern apologist book called King Cotton. I believe that the last edition was published in 1860. The Southern intellectual “elites” had screwy ideas about national economies.
The Republic of Texas could not finance itself since the founders did not want to pay any taxes. Texas was the only Southern state ruled by rednecks.
But now our major cities are cosmopolitan and we have a thriving economy as long as we avoid a state income tax.