New Energy Articles Blog

Dec

2009

A History of Tax Practices, Chapter Nine: Taxes, Slavery, and the Civil War

Author: admin

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 a doubtful thoughts about this topic? Certainly the American Civil War was about the slavery issue… was it not? Well actually, one of the most popular myths in our history is that the Civil War began over the slavery issue and that Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, used a terrible war to break the chains of bonding that shackled over three million black Americans. Right before the war, the South had everything its way.

In 1860, the South held the Supreme Court and Lincoln and Congress were approving a constitutional amendment to keep slavery for all time! What happened?

We should rewind the clock back to the year 1832. By that year the national debt from the War of 1812 had been paid and the South saw no need to keep up the high import taxes which appeared to only raise price tags for Southern consumers. Either the South paid high import taxes on imported goods or it purchased Northern manufactured goods at excessive prices. In either case, Southern money ended up in the North. To say the South wasn’t happy with this arrangement would be an understatement. If you’re 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 get rid of these federal import taxes. The convention decided the tax was unconstitutional and authorized the governor to defy the enforcing of the import taxes instituted by the national government. It seemed like a civil war was in the works. Cool heads won over, however, and the Great Compromise of 1833 lowered import taxes over the next several years to levels the South would 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 companies forced into Congress more taxes that once again stressed Southern planters and made Northern manufacturers become rich. In 1850, John C. Calhoun, the South’s most outstanding spokesperson, gave a speech to Congress. His speech spoke of three wrongs done to the South that could cause secession from the Union and war. The first two had to do with fears concerning the erosion of power of the South in general and the states as well.

The third, and really the only solid grievance, was about taxation. In Calhoun’s view, national import taxes was a targeted legislation against the South. Heavy taxes on the South raised money that was used in the North. The center of economic strength in the country was shifting heavily to the North. Calhoun threatened secession if the taxes weren’t lowered. But what about the slaves? Well, during his campaign for the presidency in 1860, Lincoln repeatedly said he wouldn’t interfere with slavery in the South. Actually, most Northerners didn’t care much about enslaved blacks, just as little as how much they worried about the Indian in the West or impoverished illiterate workers in factories. The majority of black slaves received better treatment and better compassion than their working-class counterparts in the North. Lincoln, actually, assured Southern plantation-owners that run-away slaves would be caught. The Congress and subsequently the Supreme Court (Dred Scott decision) further affirmed that slavery was here to stay.

But, as soon as Lincoln was elected and Congress came together in 1861, they created new high import tariffs. Slavery was not an issue - higher import taxes were. In his inaugural address Lincoln said he would go get the customs in the South even if there was a secession!

Fort Sumter, at the entrance of the Charleston Harbor, began filling with federal troops to enforce the collection of the new taxes. The Civil War started in 1861 when South Carolinians fired on the federal garrison at Fort Sumter. The conflict had been brewing for decades - but it was not about the slaves. It was over taxes.

Two years after that, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and then only after repeated military defeats, as a last resort to rally the North to a noble cause. With respect to the slave issue - most Northerners cared little about black people in bondage, any more than they thought about Indians in the west and the poor illiterate peasants in the factories. By and large, 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!

http://www.marccpa.com/