To Sorrel:
Tariffs were a big deal for the South
Perhaps, but none of southern politicians and newspapers ever mentioned it as a primary factor for secession. Secession was due to slavery not tariffs.
The south traded with Europe for manufactured goods because the perception at the time was that British, German or French products were superior to those manufactured in the north.
Then they were wrong. It can have been true in 1800 but by 1850 a British delegation toured the United States and found that the higher degree of mechanization (due to scarce and expensive manpower) plus the very high rate of literacy in American working class (well over 90% in New England) allowed american industry to produce higher quality goods than the British one was producing. Now for luxury goods you can’t count on Yankee taste to produce clothes who will make a plantation owner look good in parties but for everything else american products were better. Rifles to begin with.
