By Will Ferrell
September 25, 2026
Before March 1861, a great many prominent Northern merchants and newspapers (New York Times and Philadelphia Press for instance) had found an amicable divorce with the seceded States of the South acceptable and the thought of coercing them to remain in the Union against their will unacceptable.
But in March of 1861, the North put in place the Morrill Tariff with its prohibitively high average rate of tax on imports of 47% ! And the Confederacy exposed that it intended to be a virtually free trade zone.