The Tariff Origins of the War

Via Bernhard

 

The War Between the States that North Carolina was drawn into had complex origins, but none more

important than economic. Since the beginning of the American republic, and especially with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the New England States demanded high tariffs to protect their industries, which created great opposition in the agricultural (and importing) Southern States. This opposition, at least in South Carolina, was the essence of the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33 and no doubt the opening salvo of an economic war less than twenty years later.

The following article “The North’s Southern Cash Cow” authored by Joseph E. Fallon of Rye, New York, is presented with permission. A concise and easily understood explanation of the economic reasons underlying the war of 1861, and it appeared in the June, 2013 issue of Chronicles Magazine,

“The North’s Southern Cash Cow”

“Contrary to the claims of Marxism, economics does not determine the political structure of a country; rather, the political structure of a country determines its economic system. The Soviet Union was proof of that. In the case of the U.S. government, this can be seen in the adoption of tariffs, beginning in 1789. The tariffs served political objectives, not economic needs. 

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