Lincoln did articulate a view of secession that would have been
welcomed in 1776: "Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the
power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government
and form a new one that suits them better. ... Nor is this right
confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing government
may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people that can may
revolutionize and make their own of so much of the territory as they
inhabit." But that was Lincoln's 1848 speech in the U.S. House of
Representatives regarding the war with Mexico and the secession of
Texas.
Why didn't Lincoln feel the same about Southern secession?
Following the money might help with an answer. Throughout most of our
history, the only sources of federal revenue were excise taxes and
tariffs. During the 1850s, tariffs amounted to 90 percent of federal
revenue. Southern ports paid 75 percent of tariffs in 1859. What
"responsible" politician would let that much revenue go?
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