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A Paradox of Secessionism: The Political Economy of Slave Enforcement and the Union

In: Public Choice Analyses of American Economic History

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  • Phillip W. Magness

    (Berry College)

Abstract

Drawing upon insights from public choice political economy and an examination of historical records, this paper posits an explanation for the causes of secession by the original seven members of the Confederacy in 1860–1861. Secession is examined as a Hirschman exit, intended primarily to shore up and secure the waning federal subsidies and enforcement expenditures that had been afforded to plantation slavery in previous decades. Fears over the impending decline of these subsidies and protections explain the decision to withdraw from the Union, even though slavery itself was, legally, “much more secure in the Union than out of it,” to quote Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens. The premises of secession are most evident in southern declarations complaining of the non-enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, the instigation of slave insurrections, and the decline of southern political clout. These emphases suggest the perceived threat to slavery was more readily realized in its legal enforcement than in the oft-emphasized territorial question.

Suggested Citation

  • Phillip W. Magness, 2018. "A Paradox of Secessionism: The Political Economy of Slave Enforcement and the Union," Studies in Public Choice, in: Joshua Hall & Marcus Witcher (ed.), Public Choice Analyses of American Economic History, chapter 0, pages 53-68, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:stpchp:978-3-319-77592-0_3
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-77592-0_3
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    Cited by:

    1. Walker Wright, 2022. "Illiberal economic institutions and racial intolerance in the United States," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 307-326, June.
    2. Phillip W. Magness, 2020. "The anti-discriminatory tradition in Virginia school public choice theory," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 417-441, June.
    3. Andrew Smith & Graham Brownlow, 2023. "Informal Institutions as Inhibitors of Rent-Seeking Entrepreneurship: Evidence From U.S. Legal History," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2323-2346, November.
    4. Phillip W. Magness & Art Carden & Ilia Murtazashvili, 2023. "Gordon Tullock and the economics of slavery," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 197(1), pages 185-199, October.

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