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To: Non-Sequitur
Here are some interesting figures on what the South did with the money they earned from cotton. From: Cotton in 1860.

By 1860, cotton ruled the South, which annually exported two-thirds of the world supply of the "white gold." Cotton ruled the West and Midwest because each year these sections sold 30 million worth of food supplies to Southern cotton producers. Cotton ruled the Northeast because the domestic textile industry there produced $100 million worth of cloth each year. In addition, the North sold to the cotton-growing South more than $150 million worth of manufactured goods every year, and Northern ships transported cotton and cotton products worldwide.

So, if the price of Northern manufactured goods were increased by the Morrill tariff, the South would pay roughly 30 to 50 million dollars more for protected manufactured goods purchased from the North (assuming sales volume didn't go down because of increased cost and that all of the previous tariff went into the previous price of Northern manufactured goods). All this without an increase in the income the South was getting from cotton exports.

Northern people would pay more for their manufactured goods too, but that was money out of one Northern pocket and into the pocket of the Northern manufacturer. On balance, the North came out even, while the South paid.

150 posted on 02/27/2003 3:02:47 PM PST by rustbucket
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To: rustbucket
I had come across some of those figures before, for example the statistics on food imports from the midwest and west. The confederacy wasn't self sufficient in food. But I would question the claim of $150 million in manufactured goods and would ask what those goods comprised and who bought them. It seems like such a high percentage of the regional income. And what percentage of those goods were destined for the original 7 states and what percentage went to states like North Carolina and Virginia? Those two alone comprised the overwhelming majority of what little industry the south had, as well as making up a large percentage of the confederate population, and if most of those manufactured goods were destined for them then that would weaken the tariff claim even more since neither state claimed the tariff as their reason for joining the rebellion. As for the original 7, I can't imagine what the southern planter needed in the way of manufactured goods.
166 posted on 02/28/2003 3:46:20 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
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