PeaRidge: “...the ‘currency’ they used to buy their goods was Southern grown and produced goods.
You have been shown dozens of times that the value of this ‘currency’ was almost 70% of total exports.”
And you have just as often been corrected, showing that number was much closer to 50%.
Which is still huge, not trying to minimize it, but Deep South cotton was not the US’ only export.
Nor did the loss of 100% of those exports during the war years cause the Union irreparable economic damage.
My point is that for you, like 1860s Confederates, and indeed similar to OPEC in our times, it’s easy to exaggerate the importance of a raw material like cotton, and fail to see how quickly others can adapt to its absence.
Bottom line: in early April 1861, when Lincoln ordered resupply ships to Fort Sumter, solving the treasury’s financial squeeze was not his purpose.
Value of Total U.S. Exports ..........$278,902,000
Value of Raw Southern Products:
....................Cotton .....................$161,435,000
....................Tobacco .....................21,074,000
....................Rice ............................2,207,000
....................Naval stores .................3,696,000
....................Sugar ..........................197,000
....................Molasses ........................76,000
....................Hemp .............................9,000
....................Other ........................9,615,000
________
Total ( 71% ) $198,309,000
Value of Southern manufactured Cotton exports ............4,989,000
Value of cotton component of Northern Manufactured cotton exports (60%) ......3,669,000
___________
Total ( 74% ) $205,459,000
Value of Processed Foods:
.............Bread-stuffs/processed fish/meats/corn...........$36,640,000
Total Southern Products ( 87% ) $242,099,000
Export Specie for Purchase or debts: ........$57,502,000 assume 20% for overseas purchase.
Total Southern Contribution ....................$252,000,000
U.S. Department of Commerce, U. S. Treasury, Report of L. E. Chittenden, Howell Cobb, Treasurer, Annual State of the Union Address, James Buchanan, J. D. B. DeBow, Charles Adams, Thomas Kettel, W. F. Taussig, Thomas Huertas, Historical Statistics of the United States Department of Commerce, pg. 106,432.
Go ahead and correct these figures.