1860...............63,131,000...............33,100,000
There must be a message here that you are trying to convey which I am not grasping. I recognize that the import revenues paid for that 63-69 million dollar Federal Budget, but the economic impact to the North of Southern independence was likely closer to 10 times that amount.
It was a major component of their every day economic lives.
They might have been willing to make up a 69 million short fall, but to make up a 470 million short fall?
No, that was a bridge too far.
You said: “There must be a message here that you are trying to convey which I am not grasping...”
Total Federal spending was not only well beyond its basic responsibilities, but also well beyond its revenue. The government began borrowing large amounts of money to meet its obligations, and had incurred very large debt just prior to the secession of the Southern states.
In preparation for the President’s state of the union report, Howell Cobb (of Georgia), the Secretary of the Treasury (Buchanan Administration), reported to Congress that based on projected spending, there would be dramatic increases in the debt of the government.
In his state of the Union report of December 5, 1859, President Buchanan’s Secretary of the United States Treasury issued his report stating that for fiscal year 1859, the total revenue of the US Treasury was $88,090,787. This was misleading, because $28,185,000 was ‘income’ from government borrowing. The actual total revenue from tariffs, and less the funds from the sale of public lands was $49,566,000. Tariff revenue contributed 92% of the total revenue of the country.
But the Congress spent $69,071,000, which was 29% more than it took in.