Anybody who bothers to read Southern newspapers and journals from late 1859 until the war began in 1861 can read for weeks without finding mention of tarrif or taxes. Especially during the election campaign, slavery, anti-slavery and the rising threat of a Northern regional party hostile to slavery dominated the news. Anyone who can read will see that. Anyone who believes that Southern states seceeded over the tarrif needs to have a reality check. That falls in the same category as my student who honestly believed that Abraham Lincoln was black. Give her credit - she was at least willing to consider evidence to the contrary without becoming irate.

Just for grins, count the number of times the terms 'slavery' or 'anti-slavery' are used in documents framed by state secession conventions. Using Georgia as a sample, I counted twenty-six references.

No doubt someone will say it doesn't matter, it doesn't means what it says, it's all 'spin', yadda, yadda, yadda.

Will an honest admission that slavery influenced the secession movement bring an end to the world as we know it?