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I suggest that you go read the secessionist statements of virtually all the slaveholding states.

LOL!! Virtually all you say? Last time I checked there were 11 states, but hmmm..only 4 formal declarations of secession. That's not even a majority son. As for reason perhaps we should look to the address of the people of South Carolina in Dec 1860.

And so with the Southern States, towards the Northern States, in the vital matter of taxation. They are in a minority in Congress. Their representation in Congress is useless to protect them against unjust taxation; and they are taxed by the people of the North for their benefit, exactly as the people of Great Britain taxed our ancestors in the British Parliament for their benefit. For the last forty years, the taxes laid by the Congress of the United States, have been laid with a view of subserving the interests of the North. The people of the South have been taxed by duties on imports, not for revenue, but for an object inconsistent with revenue - to promote, by prohibitions, Northern interests in the productions of their mines and manufactures.

There is another evil, in the condition of the Southern towards the Northern States, which our ancestors refused to bear towards Great Britain. Our ancestors not only taxed themselves, but all the taxes collected from them, were expended amongst them. Had they submitted to the pretensions of the British Government, the taxes collected from them would have been expended in other parts of the British Empire. They were fully aware of the effect of such a policy in impoverishing the people from whom taxes are collected, and in enriching those who receive the benefit of their expenditure. To prevent the evils of such a policy was one of the motives which drove them on to revolution. Yet this British policy has been fully realized towards the Southern States by the Northern States. The people of the Southern States are not only taxed for the benefit of the Northern States, but after the taxes are collected, three- fourths of them are expended at the North. This cause, with others, connected with the operation of the General Government, has made the cities of the South provincial. Their growth is paralyzed; they are mere suburbs of Northern cities. The agricultural productions of the South are the basis of the foreign commerce of the United States; yet Southern cities do not carry it on. Our foreign trade is almost annihilated. In 1740, there were five ship-yards in South Carolina, to build ships to carry on our direct trade with Europe. Between 1740 and 1779, there were built in these yards, twenty-five square rigged vessels, besides a great number of sloops and schooners, to carry on our coast and West India trade. In the half century immediately preceding the Revolution, from 1725 to 1775, the population of South Carolina increased seven-fold.

Declaration Debate of South Carolina

What is mentioned first and foremost in this address? Interestingly enough, taxes, the most heinous matter forced upon the South by the north

LOL!! Virtually all you say? Last time I checked there were 11 states, but hmmm..only 4 formal declarations of secession. That's not even a majority son. As for reason perhaps we should look to the address of the people of South Carolina in Dec 1860.

I suggest that you go back and get some facts straight. There were 13 confederate states (N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and Kentucky). All of them had formal declarations of secession.

And so with the Southern States, towards the Northern States, in the vital matter of taxation. They are in a minority in Congress. Their representation in Congress is useless to protect them against unjust taxation; and they are taxed by the people of the North for their benefit, exactly as the people of Great Britain taxed our ancestors in the British Parliament for their benefit. For the last forty years, the taxes laid by the Congress of the United States, have been laid with a view of subserving the interests of the North. The people of the South have been taxed by duties on imports, not for revenue, but for an object inconsistent with revenue - to promote, by prohibitions, Northern interests in the productions of their mines and manufactures.

There is another evil, in the condition of the Southern towards the Northern States, which our ancestors refused to bear towards Great Britain. Our ancestors not only taxed themselves, but all the taxes collected from them, were expended amongst them. Had they submitted to the pretensions of the British Government, the taxes collected from them would have been expended in other parts of the British Empire. They were fully aware of the effect of such a policy in impoverishing the people from whom taxes are collected, and in enriching those who receive the benefit of their expenditure. To prevent the evils of such a policy was one of the motives which drove them on to revolution. Yet this British policy has been fully realized towards the Southern States by the Northern States. The people of the Southern States are not only taxed for the benefit of the Northern States, but after the taxes are collected, three- fourths of them are expended at the North. This cause, with others, connected with the operation of the General Government, has made the cities of the South provincial. Their growth is paralyzed; they are mere suburbs of Northern cities. The agricultural productions of the South are the basis of the foreign commerce of the United States; yet Southern cities do not carry it on. Our foreign trade is almost annihilated. In 1740, there were five ship-yards in South Carolina, to build ships to carry on our direct trade with Europe. Between 1740 and 1779, there were built in these yards, twenty-five square rigged vessels, besides a great number of sloops and schooners, to carry on our coast and West India trade. In the half century immediately preceding the Revolution, from 1725 to 1775, the population of South Carolina increased seven-fold.

From reading your quote, one could be forgiven for believing that tariffs and taxation were the main reason for S. Carolina splitting from the Union. Too bad you left off the interesting stuff which indicates that slavery was the main issue. Also, in their formal declaration of secession, S. Carolina makes no reference either directly or indirectly to either slavery or taxation as the cause.

Now, let me give you some interesting facts. In their official secession statements, four states (Texas, Virginia, Alabama, and Kentucky) refer to slavery either directly (Texas makes no bones about it) or indirectly that slavery was the key issue.

In their declarations of reasons why secession was necessary, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina all indicate that slavery is the predominate issue. In fact, South Carolina is the only state that I can find that mentions tariffs and taxation as a problem - and that was just a side issue with them.

I don't know if you were trying to make a point that S. Carolina had a problem with tariffs and taxation (kind of hypocritical, since they "forgot" to mention those tariffs and subsidies that protected southern agriculture) or not. I'm going to assume that you were. My point was not that tariffs and taxation weren't an issue. But rather, slavery was the overriding issue - to the degree that in none of the secessionist documents actually voted on by southerners did tariffs and taxation actually appear. In a number of them, however, slavery did appear.

Oops. My bad. I went and reread what I originally wrote to you about secession. Even though I didn't say it (and it could be taken otherwise), I was originally talking about the official secessionist documents that the people of each confederate state voted upon. My apologies for the misunderstanding. In S. Carolina's declaration of causes, there is some mention made of tariffs, subsidies, and taxation aimed at protecting the North. Funny though, that they forgot to mention those tariffs, subsidies, and taxation aimed at protecting the south...