[Aurelius]

"I'm asking a question, how can I be wrong?"

The following (from your post 264) is an assertion, not a question:

" The South was decades away from being an economic threat to the North."

WRONG

Please reread my post 266.

[Non-Sequitur]

You answered nothing. Where would the south have gotten the money for it's budget it if followed through with the free trade fantasy you propose?

[Non-Sequitur]

I have two final questions for you two. If the south had become independent and if they had declared a free trade zone then my questions are:

1. So what? Since PeaRidge clings to his claim that the south accounted for almost all the demand for imports to begin with then what good would a free trade zone have done her? Where would these goods be bound for if there was no demand for them in the North in 1860 to begin with? Wouldn't all the south be doing is subsidizing the lifestyle of her wealthiest individuals at the expense of her poorer ones?

2. If the south did establish a free trade zone then what would prevent the North from slapping a tariff on goods imported from the confederacy? Tariffs are designed to protect domestic industry. Why would the North be any less inclined to use them against the south as they were to use them on imports from Europe? Had the south tried to funnel goods to the North there were only a few ways to get them there. Putting customs posts across the Mississippi and along the few rail lines that ran North and south, and collecting duties would have been a piece of cake.

So what would your vaunted 'free trade zone' confederacy have done for you?