BTW, since this was such a 'serious' concern, exactly how many members did the Abolition Party (percentage wise of entire population) have circa 1860 in the north?
I think people during this era where much more knowledgeable about economic matters than we are today. I read an article a few weeks back (sorry can't provide url) about how ordinary people used to debate the gold standard (when we had one) and I assume they knew about tariffs and their effects. Classical liberal political and economic theory was much much wipespread in those days. IMHO. I think we both suffer and benefit from the effects of a intellectual division of labor; i.e., why should I bother to think for myself, when I can just line up a few experts who confirm my prejudices. Course, one could argue that that has allways been the case. IMHO, real economic understanding among real folks is saddly lacking. Most folks have a dim idea that the markets should being rising and if not the Feds need to do something, etc.
You must not have read much from the time then. At least one leading scessionist said it was the central issue and based upon it, concluded that secession was the only course.
"You suppose that numbers constitute the strength of government in this day. I tell you that it is not blood; it is the military chest; it is the almighty dollar. When you have lost your market; when your operatives are turned out; when your capitalists are broken, will you go to direct taxation? Burn down a factory that yields ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five thousand dollars a year to its owner and he goes to the wall. Dismiss the operatives, stop the motion of his machinery, and he is as thoroughly broken as if his factory were burnt; for the time he is bankrupt. These are matters for your consideration. I know that you do not regard us as in earnest. I would save this Union if I could; but it is my deliberate impression that it cannot now be done." - Sen. Louis T. Wigfall, December 1860 (emphasis added)