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You are correct on the dredging and the construction of light houses, I think the post roads were a wash though (If I recall correctly.)

The tariff of 1828 should answer your question. We’re talking about nearly a 40% tax on imported goods! The Souths economy was almost fully fueled by the sale of cotton and other material to France, England, Spain, and in return the import of cheaper goods. The Northern states sought this tariff in order to force the purchasing of materials and products from northern industries.

So did congress appropriate federal money to subsidize northern industry? Absolutely.
Railroads, roadways, canals - there were undoubtedly southern tax dollars used to build these. Remember this is the same tariff which led to the nullification crisis which I argue was the beginning of the Civil War.

Now it can be argued, well wait, didn’t the federal government sell land grants to get money to build the transcontinental railroad? Yes, they did. But there were lines built before this, and they were funded by taxes and private enterprise.

In fairness, I have spent quite a substantial amount of time looking for legislation passed by congress to appropriate federal funds to subsidize the northern industries but I can’t find any appropriation bills that I can access during that time at all. I can find rough amounts during that meeting of congress but I cannot find delegated amounts and what for. The latest I can find with that much detail is 1998. Therefore I cannot answer your final question, yet.

I must stress again that I acknowledge that slavery was a component of the Civil War, I just don’t believe it was the driving factor.

Thanks.

“didn’t the federal government sell land grants to get money to build the transcontinental railroad? Yes, they did. But there were lines built before this, and they were funded by taxes and private enterprise”.

The Government gave the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Federal land for the Transcontinental railroad. In addition to the right of way, each railroad received title to every other section on both sides of the right of way. Do not believe any direct Federal appropriation for funds went to either rail road. Since the 1840s the Government had granted federal land to railroads for their right of ways.
This was available to Southern railroads, just as it was to Northern railroads. The standard method of financing railroad construction in both the North and the South was for the company building the railroad to sell stock in the venture or issue bonds for the funds needed for construction. Prior to the war the Federal Government did not give money to railroads unless it was for hauling Government cargo. During the war, the USMRR built railroads, bridges, trestles and repaired damaged tracks. But this was strictly a wartime endevor