Final answer:
Both Northern and Southern Whites profited from the growth of slavery. In the South, elite slaveholders amassed wealth and power, leading others to aspire to this status. In the North, business elites profited from investments in industries like cotton mills driven by slave labor.
Step-by-step explanation:
Both Northern and Southern Whites profited from the growth of slavery in various ways. In southern commercial centers like New Orleans, a wealth concentration was created, mostly owned by elite slaveholders who also held significant political influence. The aspiration to attain this wealth and status further propelled the engagement of southern Whites in slavery. Moreover, the culture of White supremacy linked the southern Whites socially, regardless of their economic status, hence reinforcing the act of owning slaves.
Slavery played a vital part in the southern economy, generating a substantial portion of the nation's wealth through the production of goods like cotton. With the domestic slave trade boom after the international slave trade was outlawed in 1808, there was an increased economic involvement of Whites in aspects such as slave broking and owning warehouses for the enslaved.
The Northern Whites also profited from slavery, despite the act being against their middle-class belief in dignity through work. Many Northern business elites invested in businesses like cotton mills, which significantly profited from the slavery-induced cotton production.
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