Final answer:
After the Civil War, the Southern economy remained primarily agricultural, with cotton and sharecropping at the forefront. Sharecropping trapped many in debt, and the lack of industrialization kept the economy conservative and rural. These factors limited advancement and fueled long-standing poverty in the region.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the post-Civil War American South, agriculture continued to be dominated by cotton cultivation, perpetuated through systems such as sharecropping and tenant farming. Though some leaders advocated for a "New South" with industrial growth, the reality was that the economy remained largely agrarian. Heavy reliance on cotton, a crop which was deeply intertwined with the institution of slavery prior to emancipation, persisted post-war.
Sharecropping, especially, was a significant factor in the Southern economy, often leading to cycles of debt and poverty among those who worked the lands. The system favored landlords and kept many former enslaved people and poor Whites from attaining independent livelihoods. With soil quality being poor in some areas and the lack of energy sources, industrialization lagged behind, further entrenching the South in a conservative, agricultural economy.
Reconstruction efforts post-war were insufficient to alter the economic structure significantly. As a result, the South faced continual economic hardship, and social progress was severely limited. This legacy of poverty and an agrarian economy marked the South well into the 20th century.