Which geographic feature led the North and South to develop different ways of life before the Civil War?

The north had a quickly developed industry due to the abundant money resources such as rubies and gold. In the south fertile soil gave advantage to grow a wide variety of crops like oranges and cranberries.

The North's geographic feature led to the excavation of mineral resources while the South had fertile soil for plantation to develop different ways of life before the Civil War.

Explanation

The climate of North had many warm summers and extremely snowy winters. Also, the geographic condition of the area was filled with rocks and hills which were not suited for farming.

Instead, mining became a source of income with the availability of valuable resources like rubies, gold etc. While the South is border for Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, it also had numerous sources for irrigation.

The other factors like heavy rainfall, humidity etc contributed agriculture.