Does anyone have some reliable figures on how much money the Union spent on the Civil War and how much it cost to buy slaves back then? What I’m getting at is how much would it have cost to just buy all the slaves and set them free compared to how much the war cost. Obviously there would be other very important factors to consider but it would be interesting to compare.
In February 1861: Federal debt $70million
In 1865:
Bonded debt $1,100million
Various currency obligation $1,600 million
Before the war the federal budget was less than $100million
At the end of the war the Federal tax revenue was $150million
If they paid $300 for 4 million slaves…; but they did not pay for the slaves
The war, of course, was not about chattel slavery
I am sure that there is something out there that computes this to at least 3 significant digits but have never seen it. Clearly it would have accounting wise a good decision just to have the Union pay the South for slavery. I have read that WW1 destroyed down to 2 significant digits the amount of production of the Industrial Revolution. The computations on the value of what was destroyed, the lost output of those who die or were injured and the lost output comes out very close to the amount produced in the Industrial Revolution.
Where did you get this information from?
Report of Sec Treasury December 9 1961
Report of Sec Treasury October 31 1865
Congressional Globe: debates in 1862, 1866, 1869