Significant manufacturing capability? Tredegar works in Richmond, VA was the largest manufacturing operation in the entire Confederacy. Half of all Confederate artillery barrels were cast there. It was the only foundry operation in the Confederacy that could cast barrels larger than 3 inch in caliber. It was also the only facility in the Confederacy capable of manufacturing a steam locomotives. There were 5 iron works in the North that exceeded Tregedar’s manufacturing capacity and six more that equaled it. There were some manufacturing operations in the South that could produce rifled muskets at a rate of hundreds a month. The Richmond Arsenal produced at a rate of thousands of rifled muskets a month. But they had to use the machinery looted from the Harpers Ferry Arsenal to do it. The Confederacy had to import rifled muskets from Europe for the entire war, because they could not manufacture enough. In mid 1863 the North stopped importing rifled muskets because the Springfield Arsenal and it 21 contractors could meet the weapons requirements for the Union Army. The South was not even in the ball game when it came to manufacturing.
Your point about Southern political from the Early years of our Republic are quite accurate. But by 1860, the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Presidency were in the hands of elected officials that were not sympathetic to Southern interests. The perception in the South was that once the Lincoln administration took control of Washington DC, that their would be significant legislation to further limit or end the practice of slavery in the South. The Dred Scott decision aside. That sentiment was a major factor in the deep South States to consider secession as a viable political option.
Agreed, I'm not disputing the fact that Northern manufacturing greatly outpaced the Confederates'.
But that is not the same as saying the South had nothing, as your words seem to imply.
Indeed, your own statement that half of Confederate artillery was cast at Tredegar means that half was cast in other manufacturing facilities.
Cumberland Iron Works in Tennessee is sometimes mentioned.
Bull Snipe: "The South was not even in the ball game when it came to manufacturing."
I would say it a little differently.
By 1860 Southern states were in the manufacturing "ball game", and played it pretty well, just not at the level of the major league world series champions -- Northern manufacturing.
Bull Snipe: "...by 1860, the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Presidency were in the hands of elected officials that were not sympathetic to Southern interests.
The perception in the South was that once the Lincoln administration took control of Washington DC, that their would be significant legislation to further limit or end the practice of slavery in the South. "
My argument is that the Democrats' election defeat in November 1860 was actually engineered by Fire Eating Southern secessionists themselves, when they split apart the ruling national Democrat party.
Their goal was to make the Union intolerable for average Southerners by convincing them that the worst of abolitionist "Black Republicans" were coming to steal their wives & children.
And it worked.
With the pro-Southern voters split amongst three different parties, and Northerners highly charged up over Dred-Scott, the minority Republicans won enough to elect their first president.
But it only happened because secessionist Fire Eaters wanted it.
In a more normal election, such as in 1856, Southern & Northern Democrats allied to control all branches of Federal Government.