WI Deep South w/o cotton?

Let's posit that for whatever reason cotton becomes uneconomical in the very early 1800s. How would the deep South of the United States develop? Could/would they be able to turn to industry similar to the North?
 
Let's posit that for whatever reason cotton becomes uneconomical in the very early 1800s. How would the deep South of the United States develop? Could/would they be able to turn to industry similar to the North?

Tobacco, rice, and in a very few places, sugar cane would still be possible.

Also, the Deep South has a very malarial environment. It was not an ideal destination for white immigrants, if it wasn't for the crops that could be grown there, much of the low-lying areas would probably be avoided. The entirety of the US south of the Mason-Dixon line and east of New Mexico was within the range of African malaria, whereas north of the Mason-Dixon line was free of it.
 
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