[WhiskeyPapa]

None of this changes the fact that your post was wrong about the amount of the tariffs.

I don't believe the post you responded to mentioned any amounts. It said there was essentially free trade in the USA between 1846 and 1861. That is also what the Georgia secession document said.

The cause of the war was slavery.

Walt

[WhiskeyPapa]

Honestly, I think the point of contention on this issue is the phrase, "essentially a free trade regime".

There were some tariffs, yes. But the amount was inconsequential in the great scheme of things--less than $2 per person per year. It bears repeating:

The four states (of the orginal seven)that issued secession declarations give little or no mention to tariffs as a cause of secession.

Walt

[Jtowner]

Slavery wasn't even a part of the rhetoric until the North had a hard time getting soldiers. Lincoln said, "If freeing the slave will preserve the union, I will free the slaves". In the same letter he wrote, "If not freeing the slaves will preserve the union, I won't free the slaves". It was about PRESERVING THE UNION.