[PeaRidge]

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

Your opinion in 2001.

Fact of 1861

"All aspects of commerce will collapse, from iron and steel to woolens, clothing, and garment manufacturing; every shopkeeper will close his doors, as all kinds of goods from Britain and France will flood Northern markets. The whole country will be given up to an immense system of smuggling."

This was common talk of Spring of 1861. It shows that it was common knowledge that Northern products were artifically inflated and priced higher than imports. It shows that Southern consumers prefered European products. It shows that high tariffs were supporting the entire North. It shows that the "highly successful Northern manufacturing" network was being subsidized by the government laws, and the government being subsidized by taxes on slave labor products. Any moral superiority there?

[Non-Sequitur]

You are not answering my questions and I'm not apparently answering yours so we'll drop it.