As history tells us, the conquerors get to write the one and only version of history. They become the more virtuous, the bravest, the most intelligent, and obviously the richer.
Despite the mythology which surrounds the Risorgimento, at the end of the day, whether we like it or not, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was an independent country, the largest body politic in what we now call Italy, and even though we can speculate about how poorly it was ruled (and no Sicilian would dispute that), it suffered a foreign invasion and was conquered by yet another foreign power.
IN the case of Sicily, it was a double whammy because it had undergone 3 or 4 revolts following the forced union under the Bourbons, and rather than gain the independence it nearly gained in 1848 (with the most liberal constitution written to that point in what we now comprises Italy, making use of its own parliament which had existed since 1097), it fell under the rule of a foreign power ruled from a city much further away than Naples. It was never going to end well, and further revolts would ensue, one put down quite brutally in 1866.
And then this:
« Dal 1860 al 1870 l'esercito sabaudo dei "piemontesi" in Sicilia riuscirono a depredare e rubare TUTTO quello che c’era da prendere,svuotarono TUTTE le casse dei comuni Siciliani,rapinarono TUTTE le banche Siciliane con la scusa e la menzogna dell'unità d'italia,derubarono TUTTO il cibo dalle masserie di campagna lasciando morire di fame il popolo Siciliano,e poi i garibaldesi ingordi e ladri assassini indemoniati entrarono nelle case dei poveri contadini violentandone TUTTE le figlie e le mogli e rubando TUTTO quanto,poi ancora entrarono nelle comunità religiose rubando TUTTO quanto pure le elemosine per i poveri e poi ancora entrarono nei conventi delle suore di clausura e stuprarono TUTTE le giovani monache vergini;
i garibaldini prima e i sabaudi-piemontesi dopo saccheggiarono TUTTE le chiese TUTTI i conventi TUTTE le campagne e le case di TUTTI gli onesti cittadini Siciliani;
Gli assassini sabaudo-piemontesi insieme ai pirati garibaldesi nel 1860 da grandi ladri farabutti quali furono rubarono TUTTO quanto,opere d’arte,quadri,statue persino i chiodi appesi al muro e pure la verginità delle ragazze Siciliane e la vita ed il futuro all'intero popolo siciliano.»
I tell you what - it would have been pretty hard to recover from that reign of terror.
Supposedly, at the time of unification, the North was richer than the South, and it probably was, but guess where most of the gold bullion came from in the first decade of the new state?
As we know, to the victor go the spoils.