As early as the Revolutionary War, the South primarily produced cotton, rice, sugar, indigo and tobacco. The North purchased these raw materials and turned them into manufactured goods. By 1828, foreign manufactured goods faced high import taxes. Foreign raw materials, however, were free of tariffs.

Thus the domestic manufacturing industries of the North benefited twice, once as the producers enjoying the protection of high manufacturing tariffs and once as consumers with a free raw materials market. The raw materials industries of the South were left to struggle against foreign competition.

Because manufactured goods were not produced in the South, they had to either be imported or shipped down from the North. Either way, a large expense, be it shipping fees or the federal tariff, was added to the price of manufactured goods only for Southerners. Because importation was often cheaper than shipping from the North, the South paid most of the federal tariffs.

Much of the tariff revenue collected from Southern consumers was used to build railroads and canals in the North. Between 1830 and 1850, 30,000 miles of track was laid. At its best, these tracks benefited the North. Much of it had no economic effect at all. Many of the schemes to lay track were simply a way to get government subsidies. Fraud and corruption were rampant.

With most of the tariff revenue collected in the South and then spent in the North, the South rightly felt exploited. At the time, 90% of the federal government’s annual revenue came from these taxes on imports.

Historians Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffer found that a few common factors increase the likelihood of secession in a region: lower wages, an economy based on raw materials and external exploitation. Although popular movies emphasize slavery as a cause of the Civil War, the war best fits a psycho-historical model of the South rebelling against Northern exploitation.

Many Americans do not understand this fact. A non-slave-owning Southern merchant angered over yet another proposed tariff act does not make a compelling scene in a movie. However, that would be closer to the original cause of the Civil War than any scene of slaves picking cotton.
(source)

There’s just something warm and friendly and giving about our Southern culture.

More posts on secession.

Molotov Mitchell is president of the award-winning Illuminati Pictures. His specialty is entertainment communications, particularly reaching the “under 40″ demographic. He is available for speaking engagements through CMG.

America was never intended to be one massive government with states being little more than administrative subcontractors for the federal government. It was intended to be a group – a confederation – of sovereign states. The support of “States Rights” has been a Southern theme for almost as long as there has been an America.

Many today will argue that senators should be elected by popular vote. I’ve stated several times here that I am no fan of the popular vote. People wrongly equate popular vote with freedom, when in fact, it has just the opposite effect. It is bad enough that our form of government has descended into something little better than mob rule. What makes it worse is that, thanks to the 17th Amendment, mob rule extends throughout the entire government from the White House to the town hall.

In a future post, I hope to present my own ideas on how a government should be set up – a mental exercise that everyone should go through at least once in their life. More importantly, I’ll also include why I believe it should be that way. Until then, this video goes into the amendment that should be repealed – the 17th Amendment.

We have added a collection of reprints in PDF format that will be helpful to anyone wanting to learn history from those who were there. Following is a list of the documents that are now in the Confederate Colonel Resources collection:

A true vindication of the South.pdf
Abraham Lincoln – A History.pdf
Abraham Lincoln was he a Christian.pdf
Abraham Lincolns religion.pdf
An anthology of the epigrams and sayings of Abraham Lincoln.pdf
Black Republican Ideas.pdf
Class struggles in America.pdf
Constitutional problems under Lincoln.pdf
Crimes of the civil war.pdf
Democracy in America 1.pdf
Democracy in America 2.pdf
Emancipation.pdf
Facts and falsehoods concerning the war on the South.pdf
Frauds and falsehoods of the Republican party.pdf
History of an attempt to steal the body of Abraham Lincoln.pdf
Is Davis a Traitor.pdf
Karl Marx his life and work.pdf
Lincoln – Mott.pdf
Lincoln addresses and letters.pdf
Lincoln and prohibition.pdf
Lincoln the Freethinker.pdf
Lives and speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin.pdf
No Treason 1.pdf
No Treason 2.pdf
No Treason 3.pdf
Northern rebellion and southern secession.pdf
Political debates between Lincoln and Douglas.pdf
Political fallacies.pdf
Rebellion in the North.pdf
Richardsons defense of the South.pdf
Speeches arguments addresses and letters of Clement L. Vallandigham.pdf
The 15th Amendment.pdf
The Abraham Lincoln myth.pdf
The Britannica answered and the South vindicated.pdf
The Confederate Struggle and Recognition.pdf
The Negro problem.pdf
The Real Lincoln.pdf
The South vindicated from the charge of treason and rebellion.pdf
The Washington despotism.pdf
The four acts of despotism.pdf
The life of Abraham Lincoln.pdf
The life of William H. Seward2.pdf
The murder of Abraham Lincoln planned and executed by Jesuit priests.pdf
The real Lincoln from the testimony of his contemporaries.pdf
The soul of Abraham Lincoln.pdf
The truth about socialism.pdf
The_Medical_world.pdf
The_Negro-The_Southerners_Problem.pdf
The_Religion_of_Abraham_Lincoln.pdf
Truth of the war conspiracy of 1861-1.pdf
Truth of the war conspiracy of 1861-2.pdf
Unconstitutional Acts of the Present Govt.pdf
Union–disunion–reunion.pdf
Was Abraham Lincoln an infidel1.pdf
Was Abraham Lincoln an infidel2.pdf
Was Lincoln a Christian.pdf
Was Lincoln an Agnostic.pdf
Will Canada be Lost.pdf

These reprints are available on the Resources page or by going to the Reprints section of Confederate Colonel. The source for these files is archive.org . We will be adding more as we find other useful documents. If you have other titles to suggest that report from a Southern viewpoint (there is no shortage of the “Northern viewpoint” already), please do so.

I believe that we greatly oversimplify what went on during the war and the years leading up to it for a very good reason – fully understanding all the factors involved is simply beyond human comprehension. There is so much involved that there is just no way that we can fully understand it, so we read and learn through the prism of our own background and experience. Those who consider themselves historians and academics do exactly the same thing, only they pretend to be so intellectually superior that they really do understand it all.

Those who see The South as the evil villain that was vanquished by the great and noble union forces can come up with plenty of evidence to support their belief – and can do so with a pretty fair degree of honesty. Those of us who take the opposite view – that The South was right and represented all that is good and noble – can do exactly the same thing with the same degree of honesty. There are ample facts and anecdotes to support either position. What does not exist is the human capacity to look at the entire situation, digest it all, and come to a full understanding that can be communicated to others. We simply can’t do it, and only the most arrogant of self-proclaimed academics would claim otherwise.

Paradoxically, that is why there can be no middle ground on this. We can read about the exact same period of history and come away with facts that support one side or the other. It ultimately comes down to our core beliefs and experiences. We Southerners have a very strong connection with the land – a sense of place that is largely missing in Northern culture. We generally have stronger family ties and those family ties extend back to those who fought for their country – the Confederate States of America. Southerners are generally more socially conservative than those in the North, and that causes us to see the struggle of the Confederate States as one of withdrawing from a tyrannical government that had drifted far from the America of 1776. The Northern view, with its social liberalism, sees the government as the enforcer of their social ideals rather than letting individuals and social structures sort it out.

So, what does this mean to those of us who take the Southern view? It means that we need to just get used to the idea that, no matter how many facts we know and present, those who take the Northern view are not going to be convinced – just as they aren’t going to convince us. We are both operating from facts – there are just so many facts covering so many different things that there is no clear-cut “Side A = good guys and Side B = bad guys.” If it was that clear-cut, then there is a good chance that the War for Southern Independence never would have happened.

Does this mean that we should simply end our efforts at educating people about that period of history and the role that our Southern ancestors had in it? No. There are new generations, both Northern and Southern, who have not yet been thoroughly indoctrinated in political correctness. We must continue to make a strong effort to present the Southern view of history. Give them the freedom to make up their own minds by having both views of history to select from. Remember – history is complex; both sides have facts to back up their position. The Northern side has the advantage of the full power of the government and the public schools to present their side as the only side.

We should also get used to the idea that the Southern view does not fit into the modern political mold and we will continue to be modern-day pariahs.

One matter that I was completely unaware of is that South Carolina was governed explicitly as an aristocracy, and there is ample discussion of that – enough that I look forward to learning more about it.

Another subject that caught my interest on a more personal level is the role – and rationale – of the abolitionist Cassius Clay, cousin of Henry Clay. These men are among my ancestors, and that is where my middle name came from (a middle name that I share with my father and my grandfather). Heavyweight boxer Cassius Clay (who later changed his name to Mohamed Ali) was named after Cassius Clay with the understanding that he was an abolitionist. He was, indeed an abolitionist, but I am confident that his father who named him was quite unaware of exactly why the original Cassius Clay embraced abolition. The article points out that Clay hoped to make Kentucky into a White ethnostate, and outlawing slavery was the means to exclude Blacks from that state. History has many little nuances like that when we take the time to look beyond the official “approved” story. Was this motivation more wide-spread? Was that part of the North’s enthusiasm for abolition? Interesting questions that beg for answers.

At 4574 words, this is not a short article. If you are not prepared to read it in its entirety, then either understand that you may be missing key points, or don’t start at all. Read it with an open mind and you will gain a much deeper insight into the circumstances that led up to secession and the war, what the political landscape looked like, and perhaps even a few “alternative futures” had things gone differently. This is “Part 1″ – I look forward to reading what follows.

In the comments, Valli Genevieve said:

I have to say, here in New England, there is conversation in my community, for the first time I can ever remember, along the lines of “When the South wanted to secede, we should have let them go. They have been nothing but a thorn in the side of the republic. The North would be better off without them = higher education levels, environmental responsibility, more rational healthcare system, etc.”

Let the south go their own crazy tea party way, they seem to value lower taxes against all “common goods”. It may be time for them to live with the consequences of their politics and reactionary world views. But, it may be too late. The virus has spread and we may be looking at a civil war based on progressive versus regressive beliefs – a far messier and destructive outcome.

I agree with Mr. Genevieve. North and South would both have been better off without the other – at least as far as being forced together under the same government. There is much that we have in common, and there would be mutually beneficial trade and treaties, but we are two very different cultures that will never become one.

So often, it is Southerners who are accused of crying “Never Forget”. What we really forget is that there are two sides of this, and Northerners are the other side of this issue. I do not point this out to criticize Northerners, but to remind folks that the same cultural differences that split us apart are still there, just below the surface. This comment very clearly illustrates the stark differences that still exist between the conservative Southern culture and the liberal Northern culture (or, as Mr. Genevieve likes to put it – progressive versus regressive).

The original post at Front Porch Republic is a brief but fascinating look into the possible future of America.

Take a look at the title of the original Declaration of Independence shown in the image at the top of this post. You will see that the Founding Fathers used a lower case “u” in united – and even made the letters much smaller than “States”. This is because we were declaring our independence as 13 individual sovereign states, not as a monolithic new country. We were commonly referred to as “these united States” until Lincoln made his case that we were not a union of sovereign states, but a single sovereign nation (“United”). That was the backbone of Lincoln’s argument that secession was illegal, and it was at the very core of the Southern Cause. It wasn’t until about the 1860’s that “The United States” (“The” instead of “these”, and “U” instead of “u”) became the accepted way to refer to this country.

Here is another example of the correct usage:

This is from the University of Indiana School of Law (note that even though they are using modern typesetting, they also recognize that the lower case “u” is the proper usage).

Those who claim that our ancestors were “rebels” and criminals and traitors, try to make the case that using a lower case “u” is being disrespectful. In fact, by using the original form, we show respect to the country that the Founding Fathers gave us. Abraham Lincoln’s version of the way things are has been wrongly accepted because that is how the history books now show it (remember the words of Winston Churchill – “History is written by the victors”). It is our duty to point to things like this to demonstrate that truth is easily covered up and is waiting for us to uncover it. Seemingly insignificant things like the typographic case of a single letter can help educate people about why The South was right and why honoring the nation of the Founding Fathers is more respectful than fraudulently changing the name to agree with Lincoln’s arguments for making war on our ancestors.

Right now, it seems as if we descendants of those ill-fated soldiers are still engaged in a continuation of the war, with our history, our way of life, and our symbols under attack. Our children are taught that their forefathers of the Confederacy (and all Southron people, really) were bad and immoral people, because of slavery and because of their ‘rebellion’.

We are now seeing the fruits of the War’s outcome; the defeat of the Confederacy meant the victory of an ever-stronger central government and the stripping away of state’s rights and regional autonomy. The events of the day emphasize that fact unequivocally.

It is time that we speak up in defense of our forefathers and our heritage, as we owe them that much. I believe in honoring my father and mother, and to me, that means all my fathers and mothers who preceded me and gave me life.

He also includes a quote from the late Dennis Wheeler:

”There are those who despise us, who wish to stamp us out, or worse still, to use us as a milk cow so they can live lives of ease. There are those who believe us to be evil, and demand we repent at the alter of the damned while they sup at the table of the blessed. There are those who fear us, and so continually try to strip away all reminders of what we once were.

But we are still here, still living in our land, the land of our forefathers, more numerous than ever and though tyrannized, abused, and dispirited, poised to renounce our oppressors and reclaim what is rightfully ours.

For nearly 200 years, from George Washington to George Wallace, our people acted with a singleness of purpose. Even though defeated in a great war in 1865, we stood as one people to the outside world, defending our lives, land, homes, and inalienable rights with remarkable solidarity. But since our defeat in the Civil Rights War of 1965, we have been betrayed by many of our natural leaders in government, in the church, in business, and in the university.”

This is a beautifully written post about our Southern heritage. It is one not to be missed, and my sincere thanks go to Vanishing American for writing it.