not so golden arches

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

If by "States' Rights" you mean the State's belief it in the right to legalize the ownership of another human being, then sure, it was about States' Rights.

I'm not saying slavery had nothing to do with it and unlike your father-in-law would never say or think African Americans had it better back then when they were for all practical purposes treated similar to modern day Pakistani/Iranian/Afghan etc. etc. wives and daughters.

No human will ever have it better being owned as opposed to being free.

But the numerous tariffs imposed by Washington a few decades before the war on things like cotton, meant solely to benefit the industrial north to the detriment of the south certainly played a part leading to the conflict as the tariffs all but ended the ability for the south to export to Britain, etc. and instead forced selling solely to the north at artificially low prices.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

But the numerous tariffs imposed by Washington a few decades before the war on things like cotton, meant solely to benefit the industrial north to the detriment of the south certainly played a part leading to the conflict as the tariffs all but ended the ability for the south to export to Britain, etc. and instead forced selling solely to the north at artificially low prices.

Those tariffs had been cut back drastically by the 1850s and the South had a huge hand in the shaping of the very reduced 1857 tariff law, which was then followed by an economic panic. Slavery was the #1 reason for the South's decision to secede. Certainly, other issues contributed (including Lincoln's election), but the central cause was about whether the nation would continue to allow a portion of that nation to create wealth on the backs of enslaved human beings.

Trivia- one of my ancestors, Abraham Op den Graef, was a signatory on the first public petition against slavery in the colonies, in 1680 (in Pennsylvania).

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Trivia- one of my ancestors, Abraham Op den Graef, was a signatory on the first public petition against slavery in the colonies, in 1680 (in Pennsylvania).

That is very cool. My ancestors didn't get here till the late 1880's on my mom's side and the late 1910's on my dad's side.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Those tariffs had been cut back drastically by the 1850s and the South had a huge hand in the shaping of the very reduced 1857 tariff law, which was then followed by an economic panic. Slavery was the #1 reason for the South's decision to secede. Certainly, other issues contributed (including Lincoln's election), but the central cause was about whether the nation would continue to allow a portion of that nation to create wealth on the backs of enslaved human beings.

Trivia- one of my ancestors, Abraham Op den Graef, was a signatory on the first public petition against slavery in the colonies, in 1680 (in Pennsylvania).

yeah, they seceded over tariffs...
calhoun even tried nullification over that business. but the south didn't care if the tariffs made sense, they just cared about THEM, not the country as a whole. boy, that sounds familiar.

i'd suggest anyone unsure or trying to make secession and war about anything other than the slavery issue to read 'the great compromise', and also' fall of the house of dixie'.
and james mcphersons books on the subject, 'battle cry of freedom', and 'civil war and reconstruction'.

had their been no slavery, there'd have been no war. but the souths economy had been built and sustained solely thru owning human beings. they never went beyond that into more modern practices of farming and agriculture. and the economy in the south was also impacted because most immigration occurred north and west, because there was no opportunity for most folks in the south, as they had to compete with slavery.
also, the south didn't want to just expand westward, demanding to have slave states not just in cali (or, they let's split it), but they wanted to expand into nevada, new mexico...
and south. into mexico, south america, cuba. they paid money for filibusterers to try to take over cuba...crazy stuff!

the oxford american history series is really good, that first mcpherson book is part of it.