[Non-Sequitur]

Here are the net tariff figures for June 1859 thru June 1860 as published by Stephen Wise in his book, "Lifeline of the Confederacy":

New York - $35,155,452.75
Boston - $5,133,414.55
Philadelphia - $2,262,349.57
New Orleans - $2,120,058.76
Charleston - $299,399.43
Mobile - $118,027.99
Galveston - $92,417.72
Savannah - $89,157.18
Norfolk - $70,897.73
Richmond - $47,763.63
Wilmington, NC - $33,104.67
Pensacola - $3,577.60

Wise cites the "statement Showing the Amount of Revenue Collected Annually", Executive Document No.33, 36th Congress, 1st Session, 1860." as his source. If that is wrong then what do you have that shows otherwise?

I'm aware of what tariffs are for, but what these figures show is that the claim that the majority of tariffs were paid by southerners is false. The overwhelming majority were paid up North. Oh the south had busy ports all right. At the same time Mobile was netting $118,000 in revenue on less than a million dollars worth of imports it was exporting good worth 40 times that. Over $38 million dollars worth of exports, mostly cotton, went from Mobile to Europe. Over $107 million went from New Orleans to points overseas. Given the massive amount of exports flowing out of these ports, don't you think that there would be an equal amount of imports coming in if the demand down south had been there? But it didn't. Most of those outbound ships arrived empty, because there wasn't sufficient demand for imports to justify sending them directly to the south.

[stainlessbanner]

I'm not sure we can tell who paid the tariff fees by these figures. It certainly shows NY ports collecting lots of money, but it doesn't say who paid (was it Southrons, Yanks, Europeans, etc.?).

[DallasMike]

I'm aware of what tariffs are for, but what these figures show is that the claim that the majority of tariffs were paid by southerners is false.

This author (never heard of him) is playing with statistics. The north had 2-1/2 times the population of the south and 3 times the wealth.

Most of those outbound ships arrived empty, because there wasn't sufficient demand for imports to justify sending them directly to the south..

Think about it -- those figures actually work against the point that you're making. The reason that tariffs were low was because they were working as intended -- southerners were being forced to choose between very expensive northern goods and even more expensive (because of the tariff) imported goods. The south chose to pay the north in higher prices instead of even higher tariffs. What effect does the current steel tariff have on the U.S.? You got it -- it drives out imported goods and forces business to buy American steel. In the case of the south before the Civil War, southern dollars were being diverted to the north instead of to other countries.

Again, this author is making you believe that his statistics prove a point when they actually work against him. I don't know whether he's intentionally lying or if he just doesn't understand economics.