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To: rustbucket
In time, the Confederacy would probably open up warehouses in several of their ports to store imported merchandise until it was sold, like the warehouses in New York gave an incentive to importers to land stuff at New York and pay tariff there.

Years ago, I saw something that had been printed in the Charleston Newspaper shortly after secession. In the article, they were joyous about how much the city of Charleston was booming, how people were moving in like crazy, how every single hotel was filled to capacity, and every potential warehouse space was leased or bought up, and how there were efforts underway to start massive construction projects building more warehousing space and on and on and on about the massive economic boom which had hit Charleston.

I no longer recall where I had seen that, and I wish I had saved a link to it. People of that era very well understood what was about to happen before Lincoln's blockade.

The Confederacy had promised not to interfere with shipping on the Mississippi. The real problem for the North was European goods offloaded at a Southern port, paying the Confederate tariff there, then smuggled into the North and sold for less that the same items imported directly into the US that paid the Morrill Tariff to the US.

I've repeatedly said that the danger to the Northern power barons was multifold.

1. Loss of 238 million/year in European trade value.
2. Loss of shipping business.
3. Loss of Southern market for their goods.
4. Loss of Mid Western markets caused by the South importing European goods and selling them all along the vast border and all throughout the Mississippi watershed.
5. Capitalization of competing industries in the South from the increased profits obtained by dumping Northern protectionist policies.
6. Other states joining the economic sphere of the confederacy, and eventually joining it politically.
7. Having to pay for the upkeep of the Federal government themselves, rather than allowing the South to pay for the bulk of it.

To name just a few.

775 posted on 01/29/2019 10:49:50 AM PST by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: DiogenesLamp; rustbucket; DoodleDawg; rockrr; Bull Snipe; OIFVeteran
DiogenesLamp: "Years ago, I saw something that had been printed in the Charleston Newspaper shortly after secession. In the article, they were joyous about how much the city of Charleston was booming..."

I remember your posting it, it makes sense so I had no reason to question its authenticity.

DiogenesLamp: "People of that era very well understood what was about to happen before Lincoln's blockade."

Or, more precisely, before Jefferson Davis ordered Confederates to fire on Union troops in Fort Sumter.

DiogenesLamp: "I've repeatedly said that the danger to the Northern power barons was multifold.

"1. Loss of 238 million/year in European trade value."

Your theoretical $238 million might be the value of total "Southern exports" representing about 60% of total US exports, including specie.
The actual reduction in 1861 "Southern exports" was $163 million, offset somewhat by $61 million in export increases from the North & West.

The net result was Union non-specie exports fell 35% in 1861, significant but not ruinous to the Union economy.

DiogenesLamp: "2. Loss of shipping business."

As the incident of USRC Harriet Lane and USMS Nashville, April 11, 1861 demonstrated, changing flags as needed was a quick & simple matter.

USRC Harriet Lane and USMC Nashville, April 11, 1861:

DiogenesLamp: "3. Loss of Southern market for their goods."

I believe this is a significant "other consideration" why Jefferson Davis needed to start war at Forts Sumter and/or Pickens -- to stop the $200+million per year in, ahem, "money flows" from the South to the North.
Compared to those huge money flows, minor issues like tariff differences were simply insignificant.

DiogenesLamp: "4. Loss of Mid Western markets caused by the South importing European goods and selling them all along the vast border and all throughout the Mississippi watershed."

Complete nonsense -- it would take about two days to put customs agents in place at critical points, for examples, railroad crossings between Confederacy & Union.
BTW, Confederate agents would be at those same border crossings to make certain Union exports to the South also paid their tariffs!

1860 US railroads, note crossing points from Confederate to Union:

DiogenesLamp: "5. Capitalization of competing industries in the South from the increased profits obtained by dumping Northern protectionist policies."

But there could be no capitalization or increased profits from supplying the needs of just 2.5 million or 5.5 million Southern whites, and there'd be no exports to the Union without also paying Union tariffs.

DiogenesLamp: "6. Other states joining the economic sphere of the confederacy, and eventually joining it politically."

There is no way Union states would ever join the Confederate slave empire, so long as they had a choice.
And they could chose because Northern railroads, rivers, canals & Great Lakes shipping made up for the loss of Mississippi transportation to New Orleans, albeit at somewhat higher transportation costs.
However, Civil War selling prices also soared, so Northern producers were not completely unhappy.

Map of US canals, rivers, roads & Great Lakes shipping.
Note ease of heavy transport West to East.

DiogenesLamp: "7. Having to pay for the upkeep of the Federal government themselves, rather than allowing the South to pay for the bulk of it."

A pure myth quickly dispelled by any look at reality in, say, 1860 or after.

787 posted on 01/30/2019 6:02:44 AM PST by BroJoeK ((a little historical perspective...))
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