The spatial relationship between slavery and counties with high production of different crops I would describe as a direction relationship. When there is high production of a crop than there is a high likelihood that the slavery population is also very high in the area in order to work the land and harvest the crop being described. The first map just depicts the slave population density with the darker areas demonstrating a higher density of slaves while the lighter areas showing a lower density of slaves.
The areas with a higher density of slaves as depicted in the map above directly correlates to areas with high corn production:
High wheat production:
High tobacco production:
High cotton production:
High sugar production:
Almost all of the maps showing the distribution of crops above directed correlate with an area with a high population of slaves, particularly areas that produced cash crops such as tobacco and cotton which required much more free human labor to be profitable for planters with large plantations that generated a large profit.
These crops were important to the confederacy because they were the main source of revenue that the Confederate States of America had. Without the income that came from the crops that were produced in the large plantations that the south had, there would be very little else the confederacy had to create an income. Additionally during wartime, these crops are what kept the confederacy sustained with food and supplies to keep not only the confederate army fed and clothed without relying on the union, but also the general population in the confederacy. To determine the relative importance overall regarding the crops to the confederacy I would look at the areas with both high slave populations and high density of crops because that shows that they prioritize the crops to produce a lot and also use slave labor to do so cheaply and efficiently.
Nicely done!