Concise Tariff History   1789-1962
Date Tariff Name President Provisions
1789 Washington Tariff in imports solely for revenue purposes.  Congress rejected 
    Hamilton's proposal for a protective tariff; but it raised rates slightly for revenue
      purposes. 
      First protective tariff in U.S. History; a strongly protective trend was started by this tariff and appetites of war stimulated. 
1816   Madison  
      Calhoun supported this tariff with the hope that the South would gain in
      manufacturing; Webster opposed highly protective duties as manufacturing in New England had not yet pushed shipping into a back seat; he feared a
       yet pushed shipping into a back seat; a direct tariff would interfere with
      shipping. 
       
In the early 1820s Henry Clay proposed the American System which called for a  
protective tariff;  the revenues from which provide funds for internal improvements 
 improvements such as roads and canals  
1824   Monroe Increased the protective tariff of 1816 to 37% of the value of dutiable goods.
      dutiable goods Supporters of Jackson
1828 Tariff John Q. Adams  rigged up a tariff bill more concerned 
  of Abominations   with manufacturing a president than with protecting manufacturing.  Duties of 45% were levied on certain manufactured items
      and a heavy tariff was placed on wool.  It was assumed New England would reject the tariff because of the duties on wool.
    The  plan backfired.
     
     
The over cropped lands of the Old South were petering out at the time and the price of
cotton was falling sharply.  It was the Old South which most vigorously protested the
 tariff he South Carolina Exposition and Protest was written by Calhoun in
response to the Tariff of Abominations.  Calhoun said that the tariff as unjust and
 unconstitutional and proposed that the states should nullify it.  
1832   Jackson Reduced tariffs to 35%
       
1833 Compromise Jackson Reduced tariff of 1832 by 10% over a period of 8 years.  By 1842 rates would be about
  Tariff   20-25% of the value of dutiable goods.  Henry Clay engineered the compromise
       
 
1842   Tyler Tyler had no fondness for a protective tariff but realizing the need for additional
      revenue he reluctantly signed the bill.  The pressure for additional revenue and
      higher tariffs lessened as the country worked itself out of the 
      Panic and Depression of 1837
1846 Walker Tariff Polk Lowering the tariff was one of Polk's 4 major objectives as President.
      excellent revenue producer because its
      its passage was followed by boom times
       and heavy imports. 
1857   Buchanan This tariff was passes several months before the Panic and Depression of 1857.
      Responding to pressure from the South the
      new law reduced duties to about 20% of dutiable goods- -the lowest point since the
      War of 1812.
Northern manufacturers blamed all their misfortune on the low tariff.  The tariff of 1857 gave
the new Republican Party one of two sure fire issues for the election of 1860 "protection and
unprotected" and "farms for the farmers".
       
1861 Morill Tariff Act Lincoln Superseding the Tariff of 1857, the Morill Act increased existing customs duties
      5-10%; however, the duties were soon pushed sharply upward by the war
      The increases were designed partly
      to raise additional revenue and partly to provide protection to manufacturers who
      had been hurt by the Tariff of 1857.  Duties 
      were raised as high as 48.33 %
From this point forward, the protective tariff became identified with the Republican Party
1872   Grant
Reduced high Civil War duties to 45.1%
By 1881 the treasury's annual income was $145 million in excess of expenditures.  Most of 
the government's revenue came from the tariff.  Cleveland wanted a reduction of the 
tariff to more manageable levels.  When he lost, the high protectionist Republicans prepared
to push the tariff schedules higher.  The idea of keeping protection high brought new 
problems to the farmers.      
1890 McKinley Tariff Harrison Raised rates to 48.4% and paid bounties to sugar producers
   
Since 1833 the administration in Washington has rarely survived a major tariff overhauling  except where was has intervened.  In 1892 Cleveland was re-elected.  Malcontents among
laborers and agrarians were aroused by this bill and merged into the Populist Party.
 1894 Wilson-Gorman Bill Cleveland Lowered tariff of 1890, but only to 41.3%.  This tariff included a 2% tax on incomes
      over $4,000.00.  Cleveland regarded the tariff as a gross betrayal of Democratic
      campaign pledges and he let
      the bill become law without his signature.
   
In 1895 the Supreme Court in a 5- 4 decision struck down the income tax provision of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff.  This tariff which had blasted the Republicans out of the House of 
Representatives in 1890, now dislodged the Democrats with help from the Panic and 
Depression of 1893    
1897