When was the Morrill Tariff signed into law?
President James Buchanan signed the Morrill Tariff into law on the 2nd of March 1861, during the final two days of his presidency, as one of his last acts in office.
Questions about Morrill Tariff
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who wrote the Morrill Tariff?
Representative Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont drafted the tariff bill with advice from the economist Henry Charles Carey.
Why did the Morrill Tariff finally pass in the Senate?
The bill had been blocked for years by the Democratic-controlled Senate Finance Committee under Robert M. T. Hunter of Virginia. It passed only after seven southern states seceded, their senators withdrew, and Republicans took control of the Senate, voting the bill through 25 to 14 on the 20th of February 1861.
How much did the Morrill Tariff raise import tax rates?
It raised the effective rate collected on dutiable imports by about 70% in its first year, pushing the average rate on dutiable goods from about 21% to about 36%. Further increases brought that rate to about 48% by 1865.
Did the Morrill Tariff cause the American Civil War?
Historians disagree. Economists Robert McGuire and T. Norman Van Cott argued in a 2002 study that the tariff mattered more to North-South tensions than commonly believed, while Allan Nevins and James M. McPherson treat it as peripheral to slavery, which dominated secessionist declarations, speeches, and pamphlets.
How did the Morrill Tariff affect Britain?
Britain, where free trade dominated public opinion, reacted to the Morrill Tariff with hostility, since the new schedule made British iron, clothing, and manufactured exports significantly more costly. Southern diplomats tried to use that British anger to win recognition for the Confederacy, and writers including the economist William Stanley Jevons and Lord Palmerston publicly condemned the law.