What you've posted doesn't especially need to be refuted. People can judge whether you know better than Aleck Stephens and Professor Nevins.
It's you who cannot refute the fact that there was no noise whatsoever on tariffs after the shooting started, and relatively little before.
The cause of the war was slavery.
Here is the Democratic party platform. Find the tariff language:
NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC (BRECKINRIDGE) PLATFORM, ADOPTED AT CHARLESTON AND BALTIMORE, 1860.
Resolved, That the Platform adopted by the Democratic party at Cincinnati be affirmed, with the following explanatory Resolutions:
1. That the Government of a Territory organized by an act of Congress, is provisional and temporary; and during its existence, all citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle with their property in the Territory, without their rights, either of person or property, being destroyed or impaired by Congressional or Territorial legislation.
2. That it is the duty of the Federal Government, in all its departments, to protect, when necessary, the rights of persons and property in the Territories, and wherever else its Constitutional authority extends.
3. That when the settlers in a Territory having an adequate population, form a State Constitution, in pursuance of law, the right of sovereignty commences, and, being consummated by admission into the Union, they stand on an equal footing with the people of other States; and the State thus organized ought to be admitted into the Federal Union, whether its Constitution prohibits or recognizes the institution of Slavery.
4. That the Democraty party are in favor of the acquisition of the island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves and just to Spain, at the earliest practicable moment.
5. That the enactments of State Legislatures to defeat the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law are hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect.
6. That the democracy of the United States recognize it as the imperative duty of this Government to protect the naturalized citizen in all his rights, whether at home or in foreign lands, to the same exent as its native-born citizens.
Whereas, one of the greatest necessities of the age in a Political, Commercial, Postal, and Military point of view, is a speedy communication between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts; therefore, be it Resolved, That the Democratic party do hereby pledge themselves to use every means in their power to secure the passage of some bill to the extent of the Constitutional authority of Congress for the Construction of a Pacific Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, at the earliest practicable moment.
Transcribed and reverse-order proofread by T. Lloyd Benson from the Tribune Almanac, 1861, pp. 31-32; (facsimile edition: The Tribune Almanac for the Years 1838 to 1868, inclusive, comprehending the Politician's Register and the Whig Almanac, (New York: Published by the New York Tribune, 1868).)
There isn't a word about tariffs, because tariffs were not an issue.
Walt
Considering that it is factually documented, there is little about it that could be refuted. Nevins was a liar much like you, Walt. That fact has now been established.
It's you who cannot refute the fact that there was no noise whatsoever on tariffs after the shooting started, and relatively little before.
Much to the contrary. All it takes to refute your assertion is to show it in the historical record. I have done so repeatedly. I direct your attention to Toombs' speech, included in my last post. I also direct your attention to the New York Times on March 30, 1861 which called for a war to enforce the tariffs. I also direct you to the statements of Hunter on the subject:
"Mr. President, it is very disagreeable to speak, as I do on this occasion, with a consciousness of my utter inability to prevent the passage of this bill. I have no doubt that the adoption of this measure is a foregone conclusion. I believe it has been generally understood that the adhesion of the State of Pennsylvania to the Republican party was upon the condition of the passage of this Morrill-tariff bill; and I suppose an obligation that has been incurred at such a price must be carried out. Still, I owe it, perhaps, to those whose opinions I represented on this committee, and to my constituents, to expose, if I can, the shallow pretexts on which it is sought to adopt this measure, and strip it of those disguises in the shape of specific duties, under which its enormous taxation is hidden....But pass this bill, and you send a blight over that land [of Virginia]; the tide of emigration will commence - I fear to flow outward - once more, and we shall begin to decline and retrograde instead of advancing, as I had fondly hoped we should do. And what I say of my own State I may justly say of the other southern States. But, sir, I do not press that view of the subject. I know that here [in Congress] we are too weak to resist or to defend ourselves; those who sympathize with our wrongs are too weak to help us; those who are strong enough to help us do not sympathize with our wrongs, or whatever we may suffer under it. No, sir this bill will pass. And let it pass into the statute-book; let it pass into history, that we may know how it is that the South has been dealt with when New England and Pennsylvania held the power to deal with her interests." - Senator Robert Hunter of Virginia, February 1861, Congressional Globe, 36-2, p. 898-905
The cause of the war was slavery.
Your false god said it was to "preserve the union." Does that mean you are contradicting your false god now? Better start repenting...
Here is the Democratic party platform. Find the tariff language:
Wrong platform, Walt. The protectionist tariff plank was in the GOP platform. It read:
"That, while providing revenue for the support of the General Government by duties upon imposts, sound policy requires such an adjustment of the imposts as to encourage the development of the industrial interest of the whole country, and we commend that policy of national exchanges which secures to the working men liberal wages, to agriculture remunerating prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate reward for their skill, labor and enterprise, and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence."