> Slave labor had nothing to do with it. If the south banned slavery in 1800 and cotton was picked by well paid whites, they would still want low tariffs. No,

> Slave labor had nothing to do with it. If the south banned slavery in 1800 and cotton was picked by well paid whites, they would still want low tariffs. No, the southern economy, as it was, would collapse, which is why they were so averse to anything that upset "King Cotton". Yes, tariffs were one aspect of that, but the pre-war southern economy couldn't work with well paid whites. So they had an even stronger objection to slavery ending, as it would be far more ruinous than tariffs. > Ask yourself, did the south decide to secede after the north decided to free the slaves or after the north raised the tariffs. A tariff battle the north and south have been fighting for decades before the civil war. The answer is pretty simple and obvious. Let's ask the southern states themselves, shall we: Texas objected to northern states ignoring the Fugitive Slave Act: > The States… by solemn legislative enactments, have deliberately, directly or indirectly violated the 3rd clause of the 2nd section of the 4th article [the Fugitive Slave Clause] of the federal constitution, and laws passed in pursuance thereof; thereby annulling a material provision of the compact And South Carolina (and many others) noted that they were leaving due to Lincoln's election, which spelled doom for slavery: > On the 4th day of March next, this party will take possession of the Government. It has announced that the South shall be excluded from the common territory, that the judicial tribunals shall be made sectional, and that a war must be waged against slavery until it shall cease throughout the United States. The wikipedia articles on SC's[0] debunks this, and none of the state's reasons for secession [1] list taxes or tariffs as a reason. This is ahistorical nonsense and confederate apologia. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_Declaration_of_Secession#Legacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_Declaration_of_... [1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20150213033216/http://civilwarcauses.org/reasons.htm#Georgia https://web.archive.org/web/20150213033216/http://civilwarca...