Nothing but a suitcase, centuries of slavery-generated wealth, and a swathe of the world's most resource-rich land ripped from its inhabitants by genocide and forced migration.
Never mind that in the 1800s the northern economy prospered while the southern slave economy stagnated - a proximate cause of the Civil War was the south trying to economically protect itself from the booming north. The War then (literally) burned the slave generated wealth to the ground.
The end of slavery ushered in another great boom in prosperity in the US.
And, of course, attributing US wealth to stealing land from the natives doesn't explain why South America, which did the same thing, failed to prosper and remains a collection of countries people run away from on foot trying to get into the US.
The end of slavery ushered in another great boom in prosperity in the US.
And, of course, attributing US wealth to stealing land from the natives doesn't explain why South America, which did the same thing, failed to prosper and remains a collection of countries people run away from on foot trying to get into the US.