Chapter 618: Paying Debt

While claiming to free slaves, James Polk never stopped buying more and younger slaves. However, as a public figure, he was not stupid enough to buy slaves himself.

All this was done by his wife Sarah Polk, and the secret slave trade continued until James Polk's death.

Polk himself believed that it was morally correct to treat slaves as movable property, but this did not conform to the mainstream view at the time, so he could only buy slaves in secret.

"James Polk never bought slaves, and those transactions were just to make family life harmonious."

As far as slaves were concerned, Polk preferred young and efficient slaves.

"Especially those girls, they can create more value in their lives, and every child born by a slave will be part of my property." - From a letter from Polk to his cousin.

In addition, the proportion of children in Polk's secret transactions was quite high, accounting for almost 60% of all transactions, which was considered a very visionary approach at the time.

Because child slaves were cheaper and had a longer "use period", even American economists in history called them "great investors" for this reason.

Although some jokes often say that slaves in the manor live better than slaves in the factory, the death rate of minors in the manor is 45%, while the death rate of minors in the country is only 23%.

That is to say, nearly half of the slaves in the United States cannot survive to adulthood, while three-quarters of ordinary Americans can survive to adulthood.

The death rate of minors in Polk's manor is 55%, which is mainly because his wife focuses on breeding more slaves to obtain more profits, making those teenagers suffer the suffering that they should not have at their age.

If Polk does not change slavery, he can only take action against the British. But with the national strength of the United States at that time, this is also impossible.

After all, the United States at that time offended Austria and was in a competitive relationship with the French. The only stable market for cotton was the British.

In fact, Austria had its own cotton fields, and the French also built a large number of cotton plantations in their North American colonies. Not only was the model similar to that of the Americans, but even the black slaves and supervisors in it were brought over from the United States.

So in order to ensure the sales of American cotton, Polk, the British, would never dare to offend.

In fact, even without the above, the military and national strength of the United States cannot be compared with that of Britain.

However, although the US military performed poorly in the previous Mexican-American War, generals and politicians still looked arrogant, as if those failures had never happened.

As for the reflection on this war, there was almost no reflection. Robert Lee was thrown tomatoes by students because he talked about "Lessons from the Failure of the Battle of the Grande River" in the classroom of West Point Military Academy.

After the war, a large number of US troops were disbanded. These people were originally young and strong laborers, but because many of them were infected or carried yellow fever bacteria, yellow fever spread throughout the United States.

As a result, these soldiers who had just fought for the United States became poisonous rats that everyone saw and beat.

The reason for this result is related to the way the US government resettled the soldiers. The government hopes that those soldiers can stay in the land they just got and be resettled nearby, which also saves the time of immigration.

However, these soldiers are generally poor, and their income cannot pay for the cost of buying land. But if they can be resettled on the newly acquired land, not only will the expenses of disbanding soldiers be saved, but the border can also be stabilized, which is definitely a win-win approach.

While senior officials in the White House were hesitating, bankers led by Soros came to the White House. They came here for no other reason than to collect debts.

Specifically, there are three points:

First, restore the independent treasury system.

Second, reduce tariffs.

Third, manage the West.

The first point is what bankers and Jewish financial groups value most, although in theory, the establishment of an independent treasury system will separate the government from banking business, making it impossible for certain interest groups and individuals to use banks for profit.

It will even hit the banking industry in turn, reduce the use of banknotes, and hinder the interests of certain interest groups. But in fact, this system is more likely to breed corruption, and the independent treasury of the United States has never been independent.

Instead, it evolved into a bank that issues currency, a national silver coin reserve center, and a gold and exchange rate control center, replacing the central bank to a certain extent, and finally established the Federal Reserve System in 1913, becoming the prototype of the current Federal Reserve.

This point was discussed before Polk came to power, so he had no objection, but the list of treasury officials made him frown, because almost all of them were Jews.

The reputation of Jews in this era is really not good. If this list of officials is really released, I am afraid he will not be able to serve as president.

"There are too many Jews on this list."

Soros smiled: "Mr. President, they are not Jews, they are just American citizens."

In fact, except for some special surnames, ordinary people have no way to judge whether those officials are Jewish.

Polk: "Mr. Soros, your wisdom is really admirable. Indeed, the value of a citizen cannot be defined by his racial identity, but by what he has done for the country."

Soros: "I admire your wit and sense of justice. Everyone, salute the great America!"

"Salute our America!"

These richest American tycoons toasted together.

As for the second point of reducing tariffs, it was part of the deal between Soros and Franz. However, it must be said that these businessmen are sometimes quite trustworthy, of course, this may also be related to the gun in Franz's hand.

Polk actually did not advocate reducing tariffs, because the American industry was in its infancy and needed a large amount of cheap raw materials, cheap labor and a stable market.

But once the tariffs were opened, a large number of European industrial products would flow into the market, and at the same time, a large number of foreign orders would snatch the raw materials on which the American domestic industry depended for development. What's more, some European powers would attract immigrants in reverse, leading to talent loss.

These were all things Polk did not want to see, but his personal will was not worth mentioning in the face of power.

In fact, the tariff issue has a long history, but at this time the South was strong, and with the collective pressure of bankers, even Vice President Joel Dallas, who had always opposed reducing tariffs, surrendered.

In the end, Polk came up with the lowest tariffs in American history. The export of American cotton and grain was almost zero tariff, and the import of European industrial products was also almost zero tariff. Austria's high-end industrial products even received symbolic subsidies from the US government.

Third, in addition to power and fame, bankers also need to recover their costs. The land in the West is just right. After all, it is the legal income of the US government and it is the most suitable for repaying debts.

However, the resettlement of veterans is not their responsibility. If they want land, they can just buy it with money.

It is fair to pay for it.

What about the soldiers who can't afford it? But there are always people who can afford it, right?

Please give me some monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, etc.