Historians Edit McDuffie
As further evidence of the primacy of the slavery issue, historians have quoted excerpts from a speech of South Carolina Congressman George McDuffie. McDuffie was Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee which was charged with the duty of writing the nations tax laws. He reported the tariff bill to the House and on May 28, 1832, he gave a lengthy speech explaining his views on the subject.
The historian's quotation of McDuffie is shown below, side-by-side with McDuffie's original text.
The Historian's Quotation of McDuffie
Any course of measures which shall hasten the abolition of slavery by destroying the value of slave labor, will bring upon the southern States the greatest political calamity with which they can be afflicted . . . .
It is the clear and distinct perception of the irresistible tendency of this protecting system to precipitate us upon this great moral and political catastrophe, that has animated me to raise my warning voice, that my fellow-citizens may foresee, and foreseeing, avoid the destiny that would otherwise befall them.
What McDuffie Actually Said
But to return to the present condition and prospects of the South: I will remark that the most deplorable of all the consequences of this steadily declining state of our pecuniary prosperity is the moral and political degeneracy which must inevitably result from it. No people have ever preserved, no people can preserve, their national spirit and moral energies under such circumstances. The lofty and chivalrous spirit by which the people of the South have been heretofore so favorably distinguished, is even now obviously departing from them; and I am perfectly confident that, if the fatal career of this system of disguised oppression be not speedily arrested, we shall become the most degenerate and spiritless of all the people of this Union. As to the mere loss of money, and the deprivation of the physical comforts of life, if the mater ended there, it would hardly be worth consideration. But when the people of any community find that each succeeding generation is in a worse condition than that which preceded it; when men are not only compelled to curtail their enjoyments, but to maintain a perpetual struggle to preserve their rank and cast[e] in society, and to educate their children for the great purposes of life, however strenuously they may contend against the current of affairs, they must finally give up, with broken fortunes and broken spirits; and society must sink into a moral paralysis, under the influence of legislative quackery, from which all the medicines in the world can never relieve it.
I will now add, sir, my deep and deliberate conviction, in the face of all the miserable cant and hypocrisy with which the world abounds on this subject, that any course of measures which shall hasten the abolition of slavery by destroying the value of slave labor, will bring upon the southern States the greatest political calamity with which they can be afflicted, for I sincerely believe that when the people of those States shall be compelled, by such means, to emancipate their slaves, they will be but a few degrees above the condition of slaves themselves. Yes, sir, mark what I say! When the people of the South cease to be masters, by the tampering interference of this Government, direct or indirect, they will assuredly be slaves.
It is the clear and distinct perception of the irresistible tendency of this protecting system to precipitate us upon this great moral and political catastrophe, that has animated me to raise my warning voice, that my fellow-citizens may foresee, and foreseeing, avoid the destiny that would otherwise befall them.
I have thus, sir, endeavored to explain the practical operation of this system, as a scheme of oppressive taxation tending to exhaust the resources, and, through these, the moral tone and spirit of the Southern States.
By omitting context, the historian attempts to make it appear that McDuffie believed the abolition of slavery would be the greatest political calamity. A wider view of the context, however, makes it clear that McDuffie was speaking of the effects of the tariff in causing a steadily declining pecuniary prosperity that would then result in social calamity.
McDuffie warned that if the "disguised oppression" of the tariff continued, it would sap the spirit and energy of the South and southerners would "become the most degenerate and spiritless of all the people of [the] Union." To McDuffie, the "mere loss of money, and the deprivation of the physical comforts of life" by itself, was not nearly as significant as the effect on succeeding generations as each, despite a perpetual struggle, discovered itself in a worse condition than the one before. "[T]hey must finally give up, with broken fortunes and broken spirits; and society must sink into a moral paralysis, under the influence of legislative quackery, from which all the medicines in the world can never relieve it."
McDuffie's concern was that the tariff would destroy the cotton revenue. Low cotton revenue would make slaves less valuable. There would be less profit in keeping them. It was by means of the tariff, not abolition, that the value of slave labor would be destroyed. The destitute owners must then emancipate the slaves because they could no longer afford to keep them. The newly freed slaves would become destitute, with no employment and no income. It would be a large-scale social catastrophe. McDuffie believed that when the southerners were thus finally compelled by economic circumstances to emancipate their slaves, the slaveowners would "be but a few degrees above the condition of slaves themselves." This would be the great social and political calamity precipitated upon the South by the irresistible tendency of "the protecting system," that is, the tariff.
Had the historian extended his final quotation of McDuffie just one more sentence, we would have seen even more clearly that McDuffie blamed it all on the tariff. Said McDuffie, "I have thus, sir, endeavored to explain the practical operation of this system, as a scheme of oppressive taxation tending to exhaust the resources, and, through these, the moral tone and spirit of the Southern States."
Selective quotation from McDuffie's speech in an attempt to picture southerners as using the tariff as a pretext while writhing in guilty fear of righteous abolition is particularly absurd in view of the tenor of the whole speech. It was a long speech-occupying fifty pages in the Congressional Register of Debates-and he did not finish speaking until 3:30 P.M. on the succeeding day. The speech was entirely about the tariff and its devastating effects on the southern economy. McDuffie explained the political economy of tariff protection to the assembled members of the House of Representatives using a variety of excellent examples. McDuffie's examples are consistent with a wide variety of economic evidence and experience.
There are several aspects to these "manufactured" quotations that tend to cast a dark shadow of doubt on the slavery-as-cause thesis. First, the restored quotations make it clear that the tariff was their principal concern. Second, the absence of citations to better evidence of slavery-as-cause suggests they were able to find none. Finally, the severe manner in which the references to the tariff and its mode of effect were cut out of the quotations raises questions as to the motives of the historians. Why did they do it?
The names of the historians whose work is referred to are not given. It is not appropriate to focus on one individual when many are complicit. Moreover, it is not the purpose here to embarrass individuals, but only to point out a terrible misconception that prevails in academia. The determined reader already has the tools available to discover the publications. Let's allow the historians to gracefully change trains. But see that they do it.