[riverdawg]

“This makes no sense at all ...”

The tariff on imported cotton finished goods raised the price of such goods to all domestic consumers, lowering the quantity demanded below what it would have been otherwise. If the demand for a finished (or “final”) good falls, the demand for the specialized inputs - in this case, raw cotton - used to produce that finished good falls as well.

The sense of injustice expressed by Southern politicians of that era reflected the fact that Southern suppliers of raw materials participated in competitive world markets, while Southern demanders of imported manufactured goods faced artificially high prices because of the tariffs enacted, in part, to protect Northern industries.

[Badeye]

Exactly.

[LexBaird]

The sense of injustice expressed by Southern politicians of that era reflected the fact that Southern suppliers of raw materials participated in competitive world markets, while Southern demanders of imported manufactured goods faced artificially high prices because of the tariffs enacted, in part, to protect Northern industries.

Well, then, since the Southern politicians controlled all three branches of the Federal Govt. much of the time leading up to the War, why didn't they change it? Why wasn't it part of the Dem platform in 1860? Why didn't they support Republican tariff reform?

During the Nullification crisis of 1832, Southern Dem Andy Jackson was President, Southern Dem Calhoun was VP, Dems held the Senate 24 (D) -22 (NR) - 2 (Null), Dems held the House 126 (D) - 66 (NR) - 17 (AM) - 4 (Null).

[Ditto]

The tariff on imported cotton finished goods raised the price of such goods to all domestic consumers, lowering the quantity demanded below what it would have been otherwise.

What would have happened to aggregate demand for cotton if all the textile mills in the US had closed?