They Shot the Tariff

And while the tariff issue wasn't as prominent in the South, it did in fact play some role. Robert Toombs of Georgia, for instance, called the Morill Tariff, "the most atrocious tariff bill that was ever enacted" and Richard Barnwell Rhett of South Carolina put forth this tour de force just prior to 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.".....................................................................................I would also put forth these additional facts. a) The tariff issue was easily one of the most controversial topics during the hotly contested ballot for Speaker of the House in 1858 (the vote was deadlocked for over two months). b) The Morrill Tariff Act of 1859-1860 was passed on a strict North-South party-line-vote (only one southern Congressman voted for it). c) Yes, the Morrill Tariff eventually did help to finance the war for the Union (to the tune, though, of just 11%, the other 89% was paid for via greenbacks and war bonds) but its prime initial purpose (unless of course Lincoln was clairvoyant) was to subsidize northern industries, mines, and railroads. d) It isn't entirely true to say that the time period from 1832 to 1860 was one of invariably low tariffs in that the Compromise of 1832 (which quite literally stopped the Civil War from happening THEN) only lowered the rates gradually and the Black Tariff of 1842 majorly spiked the rates back up to 40%. e) Lincoln owed pretty much the entirety of his Republican nomination to the fact that he ran a full-bore protectionism campaign all throughout the North (Pennsylvania obviously being one of critical states).