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But the Northern states didn't announce that their ability to govern superceded the federal government.

I didn't know the South designed the tariffs. Source?

Putting aside the slavery question for a bit...has anybody considered if the country had been split into north and south permanently?
Whose government would have become the monolith we have now?
Or would both have grown into what we have now?

But the Northern states didn't announce that their ability to govern superceded the federal government.

I don't understand what you are saying here.

Now, I am going on memory about the tariff issue, so forgive me if I mistake, but I believe that it was the "Tariff of Abominations" (late 1820s?) which was proposed by the dems as a measure to embarass the Whigs.

But this entire Tariff thing is much overblown, because from the late 1840s to the late 1850s, the Tariffs actually went down quite significantly. The tariffs not only covered textiles (and other manufactured goods), they also covered iron, wool, hemp, cotton (a definate advantage for the south), and (I think) sugar (a help for Louisiana). Given that, it is also true that the south were more opposed to tariffs than the north was, but given the fact that tariffs were trending downwards until 1861 (after the Civil War started), it is doubtful that this was really such a hot-button issue as it had been during the 1820s and 1830s.

I didn't know the South designed the tariffs. Source?

Alexander Stephens, future Vice Presicent of the so-called CSA said that the tarriffs were "just what" the south made them.

Tariffs were not an issue in causing the war. This whole thread is just BS on the part of COPcap.

Walt