Revenue from tariffs in 1859—$49,566,000
Federal government spent all of this on Congressional items, Navy and Army budgets, interest on public debt, and veterans pensions.
Tariff data: In 1859 tariff revenue was $49,566,000 on $331,333,000 worth of imports.
The exports from the US that bought those goods were worth $278,902,000 at the ports of exit from the US.
Of that amount, the value of cotton, tobacco, rice, naval stores, sugar, molasses, hemp, cotton manufactures (all originating in the South) was worth $198,309,000 (Statistical abstract of the US, 1936 edition,pgs 435-439) or about 71%.
Adams uses the figures of 87% which is the above amounts, plus he adds the value of tariffs paid on overseas purchases made with cash by Southern governments.
If you want the actual tables for mulit-year data, let me know.
Thanks. I wish we could find some sort of GDP by state data because I want to separate out what part of the New York/New England economy was tied to the European trade.
I believe your 87% number, but most people on the other side will reject that out of hand. BroJoeK has admitted to 50% of the total. (and this produced by the 1/4th of the population living in the South)
The ugly truth which the other side simply does not wish to believe is that the Money earned by Southern production was extremely significant to the economic interests of the New York/New England industries.
Secession by the Southern states not only removed this source of income, but would have soon created competition for NORTHERN INDUSTRIES, such as Southern based Textile and other factories.
Not only were they going to lose the trade, they would have competing industries undercutting their markets, and the business men of New England were intelligent enough to see this once they had been awoken to the danger an independent South represented to their interests.
It was a matter of financial survival for them to stop this before it got started, hence the war, which was in fact, a protectionist war.
In fact, as we've reviewed at length before (i.e., post #510), far from all of those exports were Southern made.
Indisputably, cotton was and in 1860 it accounted for $192 million = about 50% of the $400 million in total US exports.
This chart does not include specie, which would reduce cotton to about 50% of total US exports: