Liberty Asylum
Barbarous Relic 
Screenwriting Sanctuary
|
Liberty Asylum
Barbarous Relic
|
|
By George
Articles
Demagogue's Survival
Guide
|
By George F. Smith For the first 70 years of our constitutional republic, Jefferson's philosophy of limited government largely prevailed. Then in 1860 the Republican Party got Abraham Lincoln elected president.
Lincoln's Protective Tariff Throughout his political career, Lincoln had supported the Hamiltonian philosophy of Henry Clay and the Whigs called the "American System," which included a national bank, internal improvements, and especially protective tariffs. In naming it as he did, Clay wrapped the flag around the much-discredited mercantilism of previous centuries--the very system of abuses our founders revolted against. The fact that mercantilism favored the politically-connected and harmed the economy made no difference to Lincoln. He was determined to push his plans for expansion of the country, with the South footing most of the bill. The centerpiece of the Republican Party platform in 1860 was a high protective tariff. In some cases it raised the existing tariff rate 250 percent. In his first inaugural address, using political jargon, Lincoln said he would wage war against any state that didn't collect all the money imposed by the tariff. [1] He was speaking, of course, to the South. Because of their dependency on foreign manufactured goods, southerners had been paying 87% of all federal taxes collected, mostly in the form of import duties, even though their population was only half that of the North. When Lincoln's election looked inevitable, the South prepared to defend itself. Once again, Americans were willing to secede in resistance to an abusive authority. We've heard that Lincoln saved the Union and freed the slaves. What we don't usually hear is that the Union he saved was a repudiation of our founding principle of consensual government. Nor do we hear much about his support of an amendment to legalize slavery in southern states forever. [2] Most northern newspapers and citizens were in favor of letting the South leave the Union in peace, even after abolitionist sympathies spread through the north following the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852. Then on March 11, 1861, seven days into Lincoln's presidency, delegates in Montgomery, Alabama adopted a new Confederate Constitution, which "affirmed that the states were 'sovereign and independent' and omitted a general welfare clause. The Confederate government could not impose protective tariffs, grant subsidies, or finance internal improvements." [3]
The Warmongering New York Times Almost overnight, many northern editorial writers did an about-face. With the South's support of free trade, it would open its ports to the world and ruin the uncompetitive northern manufacturing interests. The New York Times economic editor, who had favored peaceful secession, now demanded that the federal government "At once shut up every Southern port, destroy its commerce, and bring utter ruin on the Confederate states . . ." [4] Against the advice of most of his cabinet and his top military commander, Winfield Scott, Lincoln sent an unarmed vessel to provision Fort Sumter, knowing the South would likely fire upon it. One northern newspaper reported that for "three weeks the administration newspapers have been assuring us that Fort Sumter would be abandoned, [but] Mr. Lincoln saw an opportunity to inaugurate civil war without appearing in the character of aggressor." [5] Lincoln ordered his troops to arrest anyone critical of his war and to shut down newspapers editorializing against it. He even imprisoned most of the 10 newly-elected delegates in Maryland because he suspected them of harboring secessionist sympathies. "[Secretary of State] Seward famously boasted . . . that he could 'ring a bell' and have a man arrested in Ohio, New York, or any other state." [6] We're told that the South suffered under their philosophy of states' rights, that the centrally-organized North proved superior during the war. But as soon as war broke out, the South abandoned its constitutional principles and turned to forced industrialization -- socialism. The Confederate government set up its own arsenals, foundries, powder mills, textile mills and many other operations. When it did deal with private firms, it dictated prices and profits. [7] Victory went to the North for several reasons, including the fact that it retained a higher degree of private initiative than the South. The central planners of the Confederacy squandered resources and brought their people to the brink of extinction. We live today with Lincoln's legacy. States rights, and their check against an encroaching central power, died at Appomattox. With the Constitution brushed aside, economic life has become politics or perish, as most major organizations have set up lobbying headquarters in D.C., diverting still more resources into unproductive activity. Lincoln created an absolute central government that has spread like cancer, with an insatiable appetite for our money. At some point taxes will reach critical mass for enough of us, and calls for secession or repeal might once again begin.
References 1. Hummel, Jeffrey, 1996, Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War, Chicago: Open Court, p. 237. 2. Abraham Lincoln: First Inaugural Address, http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres31.html. "I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution -- which amendment, however, I have not seen -- has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service. . . . I have no objection to [this amendment] being made express and irrevocable." 3. Hummel, p. 134. 4. Adams, Charles, Those Dirty Rotten Taxes: The Tax Revolts that Built America, quoted in a review by Steven Miller, http://www.npri.org/books/tax.htm 5. DiLorenzo, Thomas J., 2002, The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing, p. 120. 6. DiLorenzo, pp. 138-139 7. Hummel, pp. 235-238
Next in State Treachery
|
Other Interesting Sites
Ron Paul's Classics of Libertarian Thought Greenspan's 1966 "Gold and Economic Freedom"
|
|
|