In this episode, Mark Thornton shares his recent Revisionist History of War Conference talk on a lesser-known factor in the American Civil War: the Confederate “impressment” policy and its impact at Vicksburg. While Gettysburg is more famous, Vicksburg was just as pivotal, and the South’s policy of seizing goods at artificially low prices actually helped Grant win.
Mark challenges the idea that the Confederacy lost simply because it was outgunned, and he explores what this teaches about how smaller groups fighting for freedom and independence can take on much larger forces.
Additional Resources
Tariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil War by Mark Thornton and Robert Ekelund: https://mises.org/MI_122A
“The Confederate Blockade of the South” (Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol. 4, No. 1) by Mark Thornton and Robert Ekelund: https://mises.org/MI_122B
“The Economics of the Civil War” (eight-lecture series) by Mark Thornton: https://mises.org/MI_122C
Register for the 2025 Mises Institute Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, October 16–18: https://mises.org/ss25
