Americans were Protestants, Latinos were Catholics

And Americans had much more money. Was there a connection here? Yes, America was Industrialized and Latin America was not.

And this difference went right back to the Reformation, that made the Industrial Revolution possible, and the Scientific Revolution. These made their countries rich.

The South remained Catholic, and could not make the huge leap to thinking about the world, in terms of logical abstractions. These abstractions included people, who could be used, like anything else.

The North became competitive about everything - including its dealings with the South, that it raided for its raw materials.

I have said nothing original here - just reorganized other people's thoughts. I hope you find them useful.