by Jack McMillan, Ph.D.
The American educational system continues perpetuating a myth regarding the War for Southern Independence (often mistakenly called "The Civil War", a misnomer). Teachers using government- mandated, Northern-produced texts inform students the conflict centered solely on slavery, with Abraham Lincoln "The Great Emancipator" sending Union troops to "make men free". Nothing could be more untrue. We realize the wisdom in the adages that history-books are written by the victors and that truth is war's first casualty. Like other complex human activities, wars often have a number of underlying causes. In this article, I shall provide the reader with an overview of the primary causi belli of the War for Southern Independence, the issue of tariffs.
Far from being a mundane topic, taxation has been at the heart of the American political spirit. The original 13 American colonies formally dissolved ties with the British Empire due to the issue of taxation without representation. Penned by that great Virginian Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence stands out as this nation's first Article of Secession. In it, the colonies' grievances are listed. Amongst the litany of injustices committed by King George III, Jefferson mentions " For imposing Taxes upon us without our Consent." This split over taxation is a recurring theme in American history.
The precursor to Southern secession in fact occurred 30 years before the hostilities of 1861-1865. In 1828 and again in 1832, Congress passed tariffs legislation benefiting northern mercantile interests but injuring the South's agricultural economy. Heavy protectionist tariffs gave northern manufacturers an advantage by decreasing foreign competition, but forced the South to pay the bulk of federal taxes, as the South was a net exporter of raw goods and a net importer of manufactured products. These "Tariffs of Abominations" led Senator John C. Calhoun to declare the law unjust and a convention was held in South Carolina to nullify the federal tariff law. President Andrew Jackson threatened to send troops to enforce the tariff, but eventually the Compromise of 1833 was reached and taxes were lowered over a four-year period. As Professor Charles Adams states in his book For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization, " … the South paid about three-quarters of all federal taxes, most of which were spent in the North."
The election of 1860 was perhaps the most contentious in American history. The Democratic Party split with the northern faction voting for Stephen Douglass, the southern faction for John Breckinridge. Additionally the Constitutional Unionist Party (the renamed Whig Party) ran John Bell as a candidate and carried three states (Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia). Lincoln won with a mere 39% of the popular and not a single electoral vote from the South. As Salomon DeRothschild, a visitor to America at the time writes, " This state of affairs could have continued … if the two divisions, South and North, of the Democratic party had not split at the last electoral convention. Since each of them carried a different dandidate, they surrendered power to a third thief, Lincoln, the Republican choice."
The secession of Southern States began with South Carolina, where tax issues had been at the forefront 30 years earlier. Contrary to what is now taught, slavery was not the primary issue. While it is unfortunate slavery existed, the blame cannot placed solely on the South; slavery existed in the North as well (it is interesting to note Delaware, a Northern slave state, refused to ratify the 13th Amendment abolishing the institution). Further, New England slavers from their homeports in Massachusetts and New York brought slaves to America in the first place!
With the election of Lincoln, the South realized northern manufacturers and bankers would have their puppet in the White House. Again Professor Adams states, "...Lincoln was supported in his bid for the presidency by the rich industrialists of the North. He was their man and he had long been their lawyer … No sooner had Congress assembled in 1861 than the high tariff was passed into law and signed by Lincoln. The Morrill Tariff, as it was called, was the highest tariff in U.S. history." Adams also notes, " Secession by the South was a reaction against Lincoln's high-tax policy. In 1861 the slave issue was not critical ... The leaders of the South believed secession would attract trade to Charleston, Savannah, and new Orleans, replacing Boston, New York, and Philadelphia as the chief trading ports of America, primarily because of low taxes." Note the Confederacy lowered taxes! To the charge often leveled that the newly formed Confederacy started the hostilities, Adams correctly points out " … with the import taxes, he (Lincoln) was threatening. Fort Sumter was at the entrance to the Charleston Harbor, filled with federal troops to support U.S. Customs officers. It wasn't too difficult for angry South Carolinians to fire the first shot." Again, Rothschild writing to his cousin in London in 1861 notes, " I'll come back later to the "slavery" question, which was the first pretext for secession, but which was just a pretext and is now secondary. The true reason which impelled the Southern states to secede is the question of tariffs."
Lincoln's election guaranteed a return of past disastrous policies and forced the Southern States to secede. Writers of the day confirm this. In Great Britain, many intellectuals and political leaders saw Lincoln's War for exactly what it was - a dispute over taxation. Charles Dickens writes, "The Northern onslaught upon slavery was no more than a piece of specious humbug designed to conceal its desire for economic control of the Southern States." Dickens goes on to say " … Union means so many millions a year lost to the South; secession means the loss of the same millions to the North. The love of money is the root of this as of many other evils … The quarrel between the North and South is, as it stands, solely a fiscal quarrel." Let us quote a passage from The Northern British Review, Edinburgh, 1862, " ... All Northern products are now protected: and the Morrill Tariff is a very masterpiece of folly and injustice. No wonder then that the citizens of the seceding States should feel for half a century they have sacrificed to enhance the powers and profits of the North; and should conclude, after much futile remonstrance, that only in secession could they hope to find redress."
I shall conclude this article with a passage written by John Reagan, Postmaster General of the Confederacy. " You are not content with the vast millions of tribute we pay you annually under the operation of our revenue laws, our navigation laws, your fishing bounties, and by making your people our manufacturers, our merchants, our shippers. You are not satisfied with the vast tribute we pay you to build up your great cities, your railroads, and your canals. You are not satisfied with the millions of tribute we have been paying you on account of the balance of exchange, which you hold against us. You are not satisfied that we of the South are almost reduced to the condition of overseers of northern capitalists. You are not satisfied with all this; but you must wage a relentless crusade against our rights."
Jack McMillan lives with his wife and daughter in Hawaii, where he received his PhD. in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Hawaii -Manoa. The Knoxville, Tennessee native is a member of the League of the South and the Southern Party.
http://www.knowsouthernhistory.net/Articles/History/tariffs.htm
Walt
The original 13 American colonies formally dissolved ties with the British Empire due to the issue of taxation without representation.
This is obviously false, as the "ties" with the Brits were dissolved by --informal-- means -- by revolution.
The D of I, as anyone outside the League of the South will admit, is an appeal to -natural- law, not man's law.
And so was secession in 1861.
Walt
Heavy protectionist tariffs gave northern manufacturers an advantage by decreasing foreign competition, but forced the South to pay the bulk of federal taxes, as the South was a net exporter of raw goods and a net importer of manufactured products.
To the degree that southerners imported manufactured goods, they paid by far a minority of tariffs on them. The population in the southern states, was smaller for one thing. The record (which this Bozo ignores) shows that all southern ports COMBINED collected less revenue than Philadelphia.
The record, also eschewed by the author also shows that tariffs -- such as they were-- were lower in 1860 than at least since 1816, and since 1846 a "free trade" environment prevailed in this country.
Walt
the South paid about three-quarters of all federal taxes, most of which were spent in the North."
There were NO federal taxes in 1860. None, nada, zilch.
"Tariffs on Southern imports caused the friction. Could these have damaged the South to the extent that secession and civil war were justified? South Carolina, Texas and Jeff Davis' own State of Mississippi failed to mention tariffs once in the official and closely-reasoned declarations of the causes of secession they published in association with their Acts of Secession. Georgia's declaration of the causes of secession did mention the tariff irritant in passing --- but briefly and only in the context of an ancient wrong that had ultimately been righted by political compromise acceptable to the South.
Similarly, the speeches of Secessionist leaders made in late 1860 and early 1861 show almost total concentration on slavery issues, with little or no substantive discussion of current tariff issues. In any case, before the ACW, the rate of Federal taxation was tiny by today's standards. The total revenues of the Federal government in 1860 amounted to a mere $56,054,000, and that included tariff revenue, proceeds from the sale of public lands, whiskey taxes and miscellaneous receipts.
The population of the whole US in 1860 was 33,443,321. Thus, total Federal taxation per year was less than $2 per person. Even if the 9,103,332 people in the soon-to-secede Southern states paid all of the Federal taxation in 1860 (which they did not), their per capita cost would still have been less than $7 for the entire year. From these inconsequential sums, another Secessionist myth has been created and sustained for 140 years --- but people do not go to war over pocket change.
Article 1, Section 9, Clause 5 of the US Constitution states unequivocally that "No tax or duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State." Accordingly, not a single shipment of cotton or any other goods out of Southern ports after the US Constitution was adopted was ever put under tariff UNTIL THE CONFEDERACY DID SO BY AUTHORITY OF AN AMENDED CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION ALLOWING THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS TO LEVY TARIFFS ON EXPORTS. In short, only the Confederacy ever charged tariffs on Southern cotton.
Seven states from the Deep South started the war. The four of the seven that published declarations of the causes of their secession spent the majority of their ink on frictions over slavery. None even mentioned the phrase "states' rights". South Carolina, Texas and Jeff Davis' own State of Mississippi failed entirely to mention tariffs. Georgia's declaration mentioned the tariff irritant in passing --- but briefly and only in the context of an ancient wrong that had ultimately been righted by political compromise acceptable to the South. Similarly, the speeches of Secessionist leaders made in late 1860 and early 1861 show almost total concentration on slavery issues, with little or no substantive discussion of current tariff issues. Accordingly, it is clear that non-slavery issues have been vastly overemphasized by post-war writers attempting to minimize the pro-slavery motivations of Secessionists at the outbreak of war."
-- From the AOL ACW area.
Walt
"...Lincoln was supported in his bid for the presidency by the rich industrialists of the North. He was their man and he had long been their lawyer … No sooner had Congress assembled in 1861 than the high tariff was passed into law and signed by Lincoln. The Morrill Tariff, as it was called, was the highest tariff in U.S. history."
This of couse is completely wrong.
The Morrill tariffs were passed during Buchanan's administration. Buchanan signed this bill on March 2, 1861 -- two days before Lincoln's inauguration.
See "The Emergence of Lincoln, Vol 1." by Allen Nevins, p. 546.
Walt
"You are not content with the vast millions of tribute we pay you annually under the operation of our revenue laws, our navigation laws, your fishing bounties, and by making your people our manufacturers, our merchants, our shippers. You are not satisfied with the vast tribute we pay you to build up your great cities, your railroads, and your canals. You are not satisfied with the millions of tribute we have been paying you on account of the balance of exchange, which you hold against us. You are not satisfied that we of the South are almost reduced to the condition of overseers of northern capitalists. You are not satisfied with all this; but you must wage a relentless crusade against our rights."
The tariffs, as Alexander Stephens said -- were exactly what southern men had made them. And the annual budget of the federal government was less than $2 per person in 1860. And that miniscule amount fell twice as heavily on northerners as on southerners.
Walt
Funny how US Senator from Georgia and Vice President of the CSA, Alexander Stephens, who should know first hand where the money came from and went to, said just the opposite. (See post #30)
The Northern states paid over 75% of all federal taxes while the south with only 40% of the population, consumed 50% of the budget.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but no one is entitled to their own facts.
Maybe an injustice to the British working class, of whom Dickens was a champion.
Man, I like to never have gotten through "Hard Times."
Walt