Did Tariffs Lead to the Civil War? Revisiting the Morrill Act 150 Years Later
Did protective tariffs play a role in causing the Civil War? This question, common among Civil War enthusiasts, touches on one of the most controversial and misunderstood debates about the causes of secession 150 years ago. The “tariff thesis” is often contentious because it can be seen as shifting focus away from slavery as the core cause of the war. A straightforward dismissal of this view would point to South Carolina’s Declaration of Immediate Causes, which specifically cited “an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery” as its reason for secession. Yet, dismissing tariffs entirely from discussions of Civil War causality overlooks the issue’s nuanced role. In a recent Washington Post article, sociologist…