Answer:
The economic advantage that the northern states held over the southern states by the middle of the 1800s was:
industrialization
Explanation:
The Northern states were more industrialized with greater reliance on capital resources than labor for the creation of greater wealth that continued to result from industrial approach to economic activities. On the other hand, the Southern states' economic activities were sluggish, agrarian-based, with heavy reliance on slave-labor for agricultural activities. In the 1850s, the main source of income for the Southern states was the export of cotton to Europe. This is contrary to the various processed products that were being churned out of factories in the North.
