[PeaRidge]

His point was this: "Moreover, 2/3 of the revenues enjoyed by the federal government came from the South, because of the tariffs and various other taxes."

For calendar year 1860, according to The Department of Commerce, the percentage of the total value of US exports of cotton and tobacco was 65%. Data from this department shows that foreign goods were taken in trade, not specie.

As of February 1861, all this cotton and tobacco was leaving from Southern ports, and returning to same in the form of foreign goods on foreign ships.

Since 97% of the Union treasury was supplied by tariffs, all of a sudden the Union was broke.

[Grand Old Partisan]

Not hardly was the U. S. Government broke. Remember, the federal government expended nearly $4 billion during the Civil War (in 1860s money !!), almost none of which was raised in the South.