Suppose that when the southern states that formed the Confederacy seceded (and In this scenario we include all 11 not just the original seven) the north simply let them secede and they formed their own nation as set up during the antebellum system and Confederate constitution. What would the Confederacy be like today? What would its economic, social, religious, and cultural institutions look like?
Would it have industrialized along with the rest of the world or would it remain a poor agricultural society today. Would it have a similar history to South Africa or maybe Brazil or other post plantation societies like Brazil? Would it be a rich western nation or a poor backwater? Would the demographics be different and would race relations be better, like in Brazil when it naturally ended slavery or even worse? What about the power of the states vs the power of the federal government. Any speculation is welcome.