re: #245 keloyd

Ok, since you asked, Northern interests were perfectly happy to buy slave-grown cotton for its mills. Northern pols were perfectly happy to jack around with tariffs to help themselves and hurt the South. A few slave states fought with the North. Most ‘free’ states adjoining the South had morally indefensible laws re black residency and how to deal with runaways. History notwithstanding, that Virginian governor is a dog-whistling a clown catering indirectly to the Nirthers. Still, this nation has had an evil version of ‘Dueling Banjos’ with their revision of that war. I see a dozen cases of whitewashing here, some of which I addressed. A few excitable types may take this as dog whistling, but I know what I mean, and dinner + Guinness time approaches.

Also, yes, I was (what one thought was obviously) tongue-in-cheek when I said “I want to say…but I won’t” then spent 6 lines saying the thing itself, so let’s all be happy and mellow and enjoy the sunny weather and blooming flowers.

I’ve heard that argument raised before, but it’s also important to note that the planter class of the South really did not want the mills and factories that would have given them leverage. They did not want such things since that would have meant others of wealth and power who would have competed with them. To say nothing of the fact that slaves would have been far less productive in running such things as free laborers were (though such laborers weren’t free in many ways, they were no one’s property).