http://www.amazon.com/For-Good-Evil-Impact-Civilization/dp/1568332351
Charles W. Adams, a U.S. tax attorney
“...the South paid about three-quarters of all federal taxes, most of which were spent in the North.” [p. 326-7]
0.E.O., a U.S. insurance specialist
"...the South paid a disproportionately low share of the tariffs collected."
So now what?
Almost all federal taxes were tariffs, paid on imports. The importer paid them, then passed the costs on to the eventual buyer.
So 6M white southerners bought 3x as many imports as 21M white northerners?
Color me skeptical.
Might be an interesting statistic if you’d provide some context, like maybe a paragraph.
Since the federal government received the primary portion of its income from tariffs, you need to explain what the south, with their population, was importing in vastly larger quantities in order to make the first part of that statement true. As for the second part, the federal budget in 1860 was 78 million. Of that, 46 million went to defense, and the largest portion of that was spent in the west fighting Indians,with a good chunk of the army in Texas, where Robert E. Lee was commanding before the war. Another 15 million was spent on the postal service. So there's 61 million right there. Explain, in light of those numbers, how most of the taxes were spent in the north.
Nice cherry picked quote. How did he arrive at that, since the tariff was collected at the port, and the northern ports collected more than southern ports?
He must have determined that a massive share of the goods imported to the north were eventually sold in the south.
The road building (cumberland GAp) was mostly in the southern states, and the port improvements (Ft Sumter) were mostly in southern states (Boston, NY, RI already had very good ports. Erie Canal in NY was built with state bond funds.