>>>Sorry pal, but your numbers stink to high heaven...The 35th US Congress (1858 to 1860) ended with 237 members, of whom 116 were Democrats...etc., etc,, etc,<<<
Thanks, Pal, for this irrevelant information. The 36th Congress (1859 to 1861) had 238 members, of which only 83 were Democrats (and even less were Southern Democrats). Source: http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/partyDiv.html
Now, I quote from: http://www.askaword.com/?q=Morrill+Tariff&d=ls&d=gg&libs=
“The Morrill Tariff was a major issue of contention in the 36th Congress’ election for Speaker of the House. The act passed the United States House of Representatives by a strictly sectional vote during the first session of the 36th Congress on May 10, 1860. Virtually all of the northern representatives supported it and southern representatives opposed it. In that vote, only 15 northern congressmen, mostly Democrats, voted against the Morrill Tariff. Similarly, only one secessionist southern state congressman voted in favor of the tariff, along with 6 southern border state congressmen. In total, 87% of the northern congressmen supported the bill and 87.5% of southern congressmen opposed it. (McGuire and Van Cott, p. 435)”
>>>Furthermore, President “Dough-Faced” Buchanan was also a Democrat and highly sympathetic to the Southern cause.<<<
Buchanan was from Pennsylvania, a STEEL state which benefited from the tariff. He supported the tariff. (You should know this bit of history about Pennsylvania.)
>>>Point is: as of 1860 nothing could pass Congress which the South was determined to oppose.<<<
Nonsense. The Republicans took control of the House in the 36th Congress (1859-1861). The Morrill Tariff passed the House, even though it was opposed by nearly all Southern Democrats.
You are correct:
It was the 36th Congress which began in 1859 with 234 members, of whom 113 were Republicans, 82 Democrats and 39 in four other parties.
Southern representatives included 33 from the Deep South, 33 from the Upper South and 24 from Border States = 90 total.
The Morrill Tariff Act passed the House on May 10, 1860 by a vote of 105 to 64 with 55 abstentions and 10 absenses.
Voting against Morrill included two Republicans and 14 northern Democrats.
So the bill could easily have been defeated, if all 90 Southern Representatives plus those 16 northerners had voted against, and/or the 14 northern Democrats who voted for Morrill switched sides.
However over half the 90 Southern representatives voted for the Morrill Tariff, or abstained, or played hookey.
That's why Morill passed the House.
Regardless of the House, the Morrill Tariff could not possibly have passed the Senate over the South's objections, and it did not pass until after the South seceded.
Nor did President "Dough-Faced" Buchanan sign Morrill until after the South declared itself seceded.
Furthermore, the Morrill Tariff had nothing to do with the South's secession, because it wasn't law when the South seceded, and could never have become law over the South's objections.
On top of all that, the Morrill tariffs were not particularly high for the time.
Morrill raised tariffs from about 17% to 26% -- still less than over 50% before 1830.
And Morrill's purposes included Federal revenues plus protections for US manufacturers -- who could just as easily have been Southern as Northern.
So there was no necessary discrimination against the South in these tariffs.
The Morrill Tariff was not mentioned in any Southern Declaration of Causes of Secession.
The cause of secession -- the only cause of any consequence -- was the South's purpose to protect and expand slavery.
All the rest is just Neo-Confederate Lost Causer nonsense, pal.