The History of Taxation, Part Nine: Tax Law, the Slaves, and the American Civil War
December 25, 2009 by Taxcut Editor
Filed under Personal and Business Taxes
W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
“Slavery – the one cause of the Civil War.” – John Stuart Mill, 1862
Can there be any doubtful thoughts about this topic? Certainly the American Civil War was about the slavery issue… was it not? Well actually, one of the greatest hoaxes in our history is that the Civil War began because of the slavery issue and that Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, fueled a terrible war to break the chains of bondage that enslaved over 3 million black Americans. Right before the war, the South had everything its way.
In 1860, the South controlled the Supreme Court and Lincoln and Congress were approving a constitutional amendment to protect slavery forever! What happened?
We should rewind the time back to the year 1832. By 1832 the national debt from the War of 1812 had been paid and the South saw no need to keep up the exorbitant import taxes that seemed to only jack up prices for the South’s consumers. Either the South paid high import taxes on imported goods or it bought Northern manufactured goods at excessive prices. Either way, the South’s money transferred to the North. To say the least, the South was not happy with this arrangement. If you are feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a CPA for Tax Preparation in Raleigh, NC for all your tax-related needs!
So, in 1832 a convention was hosted in South Carolina to nullify these federal import taxes. The South declared the tax was unconstitutional and authorized the governor to resist the enforcing of the import taxes instituted by the national government. It seemed like a civil war was in the making. Mild tempers won over, however, and the Great Compromise of 1833 reduced import taxes over the subsequent few years to an area the South could tolerate. Go here if you want help with a modern-day Tax Return in Raleigh, NC.
Over the ensuing years, however, Northern corporate and manufacturer interests bullied into Congress more taxes that again stressed Southern planters and allowed Northern Manufacturers to become rich once again. In 1850, John C. Calhoun, the South’s most outstanding spokesperson, delivered a speech to Congress. His speech listed 3 grievances of the South that may cause secession from the Union and war. The first two involved fears about the gradual decline of power of the South in general and the states in particular.
The third, and only solid grievance, was about taxation. In Calhoun’s view, national import taxes was a targeted legislation against the South. Huge amounts of taxes on the South raised money that was used in the North. The focus of economic life in the country was steadily changing strongly to the North. Calhoun spoke of secession if the taxes weren’t reduced. But what of the slaves? Well, in his campaign for the presidency in 1860, Lincoln repeatedly said he would not do anything about slavery in the South. Actually, most Northerners did not care much about black men in bondage, just as little as how much they worried about the Native-American in the West or impoverished uneducated workers in factories. By and large many black slaves got substantially better quality treatment and more compassion than their counterparts in the North. Lincoln, in fact, promised Southern plantation-owners that fugitive slaves would be caught. The Congress and then the Supreme Court (Dred Scott decision) continually affirmed that slavery wasn’t going anywhere.
However, just as Lincoln was elected and Congress assembled in 1861, they enacted more high import tariffs. Slavery wasn’t an problem – higher import taxes were. In his inaugural address Lincoln stated he would collect the customs in the South even if there happened to be a secession!
Fort Sumter, near the entrance of the Charleston Harbor, started to fill with federal troops to support the collection of the new taxes. The Civil War began in 1861 when South Carolinians fired on the federal garrison at Fort Sumter. The inevitable had been brewing for years – but it wasn’t about the slaves. It was about tax policy.
Two years later, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and then only following repeated military battles, as the last resort to rally the North behind a noble cause. With respect to the slave issue – most Northerners didn’t care much concerning black people in bondage, no more than they cared about Native-Americans in the west and the poor illiterate peasants in the factories. Ironically, most black slaves got better treatment and greater compassion than their impoverished counterparts in the North.
That’s it for the History of Taxes Series!
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