The economic destruction intentionally inflicted upon the Southern states during the War Between the States and during Reconstruction by the government of the United States was unparalleled in history up until that time. This marked the first instance of “Total War” in which citizens and private property became targets. 

Wikipedia defines the term as follows

“Total war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a belligerent engages in a mobilization of all available resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise, in order to entirely destroy or render beyond use their rival’s capacity to continue resistance.”

     Prior to the War the Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina alone produced the vast majority of the Nation’s exports and around 75% of the total income of the Federal Government.  In 1823, Senator Thomas H. Benton made the following statement concerning the financial extortion that the South was subjected to even before the War of the 1860s.

“Under Federal legislation, the exports of the South have been the basis of the Federal revenue. Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia, may be said to defray three fourths, of the annual expense of supporting the federal government, and of this great sum, annually furnished by them, nothing or next to nothing is returned to them, in the shape of Government expenditures.”  

     In Short, the South was paying for everything and receiving nothing in return! During and after the War this trend just got as millions of dollars of private property were intentionally targeted for destruction. The North wanted to ensure that South’s population was left destitute and totally dependent on their new Federal masters so they put to the torch anything of value. Tens of thousands of acres of crops were flooded or burned, food livestock was killed and left to rot, and homes and business were looted and then reduced to ashes.

     It was nearly 50 years after the end of the war before the State of Georgia’s taxable assets equaled what it had in 1860 and some punitive tariffs against the South were not lifted until 1940. 80 years had passed before the Federal Government decided to stop destroying the South’s economy and this was only because the South was needed again to help produce funds to fight World War II! This slash and burn policy against the economy of the South has had long lasting effects. What before the war was the most affluent, well learned, and productive area of the Nation now had become its most poverty stricken and undereducated region. This fact alone should prove that the root cause of the “Civil War’ was about finances and not the false ideal of abolition. Just as most wars are fought over money, this one was no exception!

     You may think that with the lifting of the tariffs against the South in the mid 20^th century that the economic suffering would end and the South would return to flower, but think again! Here are a few more stats for you to ponder.

“The 1980 census showed us that the South was still the poorest part of the country with a poverty rate 20% higher than the rest of the nation as a whole. 41% of all Americans living below poverty    level live in the South. All the states with the lowest poverty rates were in the North. The 1990 census showed that the average worker in the South will make 20% – 30% less than a Northern worker for doing the exact same job! According to the Congressional Quarterly, the South is more populous and out-produces every other region of the U.S. but we are forced to do this for less pay than the rest of the nation. Those unfortunate Southerners who find themselves receiving welfare will find their payments to be 47% lower than in other states. 140 years after The War, the South still has not recovered its economic status.”

     That is right; the South is still suffering from the unfair policies of a bloated and increasingly powerful Federal Government. I bet by now you are saying to yourself, “the damage has already been done, it’s too late for the South to help itself , there is no way to stem this tide”. That kind of thinking is where you are wrong and here is what we can do to stop it! We Buy Southern! We start making a habit of looking to see where the goods we purchase are made. Instead of buying a bag of Cape Cod Potato Chips made in Hyannis, Massachusetts, we should buy a bag of Frito-Lay chips that were made in Dallas, Texas! Instead of purchasing tasteless colorless vegetables shipped in refrigerated containers all the way from California, visit your local farmer’s market and purchase delicious, beautiful, and fresh produce grown by your own neighbors! By taking back the millions of dollars we are stuffing into the pockets of those that persecuted the South for so long, we can help improve the lives and businesses of our friends and neighbors right here in the South.

     I highly encourage you to start looking at who makes ALL the products you purchase, not just food items. If you can, please, keep those dollars in the South by patronizing our Southern owned manufacturers and businesses. If we all start doing this simple thing before every purchase, we can undo the damage that has been done to our glorious homeland and restore it to its rightful place of prominence. I urge you to visit www.buysouthern.org to read more about this effort and find lists of many fine Southern companies that you can feel great about patronizing.

Thanks

Webmaster – GoodOldRebel.com