That data makes very good sense. Each jyear, part of the imports from overseas were sold South. That amount in 1859 was $106,000,000. The amount of Northern and Western productions sold south for the same year was $240,000,000. See page 74, Southern Wealth and Northern Profits, 1860.
Regarding your comment: "Indeed, basic economic facts ...Union states....accounted for 80 to 90% of the country's totals.
Not germaine to this discussion nor accurate.
Your comment: "the North's manufacturing and trade economy was not destroyed by embargos, blockade or war."
Not relevant.
Your comment: "You cite no source for these numbers, and they appear very dubious. What exactly do they represent?"
I did cite the source, if you will take the time to read it. And it will make sense to you too.
My comment: "But it neither raised its own food nor its own raw materials, nor did it furnish freights for its own shipping"
You said: "You are obviously very confused. Those words apply to the South, not the North. The North was self-sufficient in virtually every respect, except its need for Southern cotton, and even that, as it happened, could be done without."
If that were true, then why did the Northeastern states import such large amounts of food each year?
Your post #382 makes no sense where it says:
PeaRidge: "Not germaine to this discussion nor accurate."
Not responsive.
PeaRidge: "Not relevant."
Not responsive.
PeaRidge: "I did cite the source, if you will take the time to read it."
Not responsive. You cited no source for the numbers, much less a link. They make no sense as is.
PeaRidge: "If that were true, then why did the Northeastern states import such large amounts of food each year?"
Re-read my post #415.
Again, your problem is: you reduced "The North" to just the Northeastern states, and expanded "The South" to include not only Upper South but also Border States of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware.
In actual fact, when push came to shove, "The North" included not only Northeastern states, but also Middle-Atlantic, Mid-Western, Northwestern, Far West and those Border States.
So, "The North" accounted for 80% of the free-white population, 80% to 90% of industry and was, for all intents and purposes economically self-sufficient.
Of course, I'm not saying "The South" wasn't important economically -- since it accounted for the majority of the nation's exports -- only that it's just as wrong to over-state as under-state "The South's" importance.
Indeed, this was a lesson secessionists learned the hard way in 1861 when they embargoed cotton shipments to Europe, expecting that would help them to "win friends and influence people" there.
It didn't.