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

Could there be any doubtful thoughts about this topic? Of course the American Civil War was about slavery… wasn’t it? Well actually, one of the most hoaxes in American history is that the Civil War was started over slavery and that Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, fueled a terrible war to sever the claims of bondage that enslaved over three million black Americans. Right before the war, the South had all it could have wanted.

In 1860, Southerners held the Supreme Court and Lincoln and Congress were beginning the process of passing a constitutional amendment to keep slavery for all time! So what happened?

Let’s rewind the time back to the year 1832. By 1832 the national debt left from the War of 1812 had been re-paid and the South did not see a need to continue the high import taxes that seemed to only jack up price tags for Southern consumers. Either the South paid high import taxes on imported goods or it bought Northern manufactured goods at excessive prices. In either case, Southern money transferred to the North. To say the least, the South was not happy with this arrangement. 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!

Consequently, in 1832 a convention was hosted in South Carolina to get rid of these federal import taxes. The convention declared the tax was unconstitutional and gave the governor the power to to resist the enforcing of the import taxes instituted by the national government. It looked like a civil war was in the making. Cool heads prevailed, however, and the Great Compromise of 1833 reduced import taxes over the subsequent several years to levels 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 commercial and manufacturing interests bullied into Congress new taxes that again oppressed Southern planters and made Northern manufacturers become rich. In 1850, John C. Calhoun, the South’s greatest exceptional spokesman, delivered a speech to Congress. It spoke of 3 wrongs done to the South that may lead to secession from the Union and war. The first two involved fears concerning the erosion of power of the South in general and the states in particular.

The third, and really the only solid grievance, concerned taxation. In Calhoun’s view, federal import taxes was a targeted legislation against the South. Heavy taxes on the South raised money that was used in the North. The focus of economic life in the United States was steadily changing heavily to the North. Calhoun spoke of secession if the taxes were not reduced. But what about the slaves? Well, in his campaign for the presidency in 1860, Lincoln steadily repeated he wouldn’t interfere with slavery in the South. Actually, the vast majority of Northerners did not really care about black men in bondage, any more than they cared about the Native-American in the West or impoverished illiterate workers in factories. By and large many black slaves received better treatment and better compassion than their counterparts in the North. Lincoln, actually, told Southern plantation-owners that fugitive slaves would be returned. The Congress and then the Supreme Court (Dred Scott decision) continually affirmed that slavery was not going anywhere.

However, just as Lincoln was placed in office and Congress assembled in 1861, they created more high import tariffs. Slavery wasn’t an problem – higher import taxes were. In his inaugural address Lincoln said he would go get 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 Union soldiers to support the collection of the new taxes. The Civil War started in 1861 when South Carolinians shot at the federal garrison at Fort Sumter. The inevitable had been brewing for decades – but it was not about slavery. It was over taxes.

Two years later, Lincoln put into action the Emancipation Proclamation, and then only following several military battles, as a last resort to rally the North behind a worthwhile cause. To address the slave issue – the majority of Northerners did not care much concerning black people in bondage, any more than they thought about Indians to the west and the impoverished illiterate peasants in the factories. For the most part, many black slaves received better treatment and more compassion than their impoverished counterparts in the North.

That’s it for the History of Taxes Series!

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