Politically Incorrect Historian (Thomas Woods New Book From Regnery)

Campus Reportonline ^ | December 14, 2004 | Malcolm A. Kline

[Ditto]

The export tariff on cotton and other products was un-Constitutional.

Can you produce some original source for your claim that there was an Export Tariff on Cotton?

I have much time reading and studying the period and the causes of the Civil War trying to understand what motivations drove the nation to that horrendous point, and other than you on this thread and the dubious and obviously economically illiterate source you linked to, I have never read once on any Export Tariff on cotton.

None of the Secessionist Declarations of Causes, speeches before Congress or writings from the day that I have seen mention any such cotton export tariff or any complaints of Constitutional violations associated with exports.

Madison's notes of the Constitutional Convention specifically record the debate over the potential of Export Duties or Tariffs and the idea was rejected and specifically forbidden in Article I after strong objections from both Northern mercantile and Southern planter interests.

Please site some source so I can follow up.

[Ditto]

When Congress repealed that section of the Tariff code in 1871...

I have searched and can't find any Tariff legislation from 1871. Do you have a source?

[moodyskeptic]

This guy beat Brian Sisson to it. Read about about the Sisson book here:

http://www.briansissonart.com/bookchapterlaunch.html

[PeterFinn]

I'm actually having to re-up my Lexis-Nexus to search the US code on that one & the lower court case - I do recall the lower court was the New York District and the challenge was in 1827/28. My search on the US Nat'l Archives was a pain in the patootie - their database search utility ain't Google.

I've also got a friend at Congressman Doolittle's office pulling up the Record for 1871 for me. I'm not going to have an answer anytime soon, but I will post it when I find it.