[DiogenesLamp]

As with the word "racism", which was unknown in 1860, the word "money" was almost never used in Confederates' official "Reasons for Secession" documents.

If your actions were going to result in the potential loss of about 700 million per year from the powerful industrial interests of the North, would you talk about it?

[BroJoeK]

DiogenesLamp: "If your actions were going to result in the potential loss of about 700 million per year from the powerful industrial interests of the North, would you talk about it?"

Why not?
In 1860 & 1861, several Confederate states and individuals wrote "Reasons for Secession" documents -- documents which can be compared to our own 1776 Declaration of Independence.

I have summarized those documents above (post #110) and provided links to the actual documents, if you wish to study those more carefully.
To my eyes, the documents seem entirely sincere and legitimate explanations of what secessionists believed motivated them -- why should we doubt them?
There are no other documents from the time which contradict the "Reasons for Secession" in any major way.

The sum of it is -- secessionists were concerned most about**:

1. 50% protecting slavery
2. 17% asserting their states' rights
3. 8% economic issues like "bounties" (2%) tariffs (3%) and spending in the North (3%)
4. 2% election of anti-slavery Republicans & Lincoln
5. 1% lack of military protection against "Indian savages" and "Mexican banditti"

** Corrected slightly from previous postings.

Remember, these "Reasons for Secession" documents were all written before the Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861), and even before passage of the Morrill Tariff on March 2.

So the perspectives of secessionists in early 1861 were not yet influenced by events which came later that spring.

Summary Reasons for Secession: