Tariff of 1857

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The Tariff of 1857 was a major tax reduction in the United States, creating a mid-century lowpoint for tariffs. It amended the Walker Tariff of 1846 by lowering rates to around 17% on average.

The Tariff of 1857 was authored primarily by Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter of Virginia. The bill was offered in response to a federal budget surplus in the mid-1850s. Hunter intended to disperse this surplus through a tax cut.

Supporters of the bill came mostly from Southern and agricultural states, which tended to be export dependent and tended to support the "free trade" position. They were also joined by a handful of New England wool manufacturers. This constituency traditionally supported protectionism in the 19th century. A series of political setbacks for the protectionist movement in the early 1850s, however, prompted them to forgo protection for their own goods in exchange for reduced tariffs on their raw material imports such as Canadian wool. According to Kenneth Stampp, the bill “was possible because it did not represent a victory of one section over the other; nor did it produce a clear division between parties. Its supporters included Democrats, Republicans, and Americans; representatives of northern merchants, manufacturers, and railroad interests; and spokesmen for southern farmers and planters. Opposition came largely from two economic groups: the iron manufacturers of Pennsylvania and the wool growers of New England and the West.” [Kenneth M. Stampp, America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink 1990 p. 19. ]

Producers from other traditional protectionist constituencies such as iron, glass, and sheep farmers opposed the bill. When the Panic of 1857 struck later that year, protectionists, led by economist Henry C. Carey, blamed the downturn on the new Tariff schedule. Though economists today reject this explanation, Carey's arguments rejuvenated the protectionist movement and prompted renewed calls for a tariff increase.

The Tariff of 1857's cuts lasted only three years. In 1861, the country changed course again under the heavily protectionist Morrill Tariff.

v t e Tax Acts of the United States

Internal Revenue	1861 1862 1864 1913 1916 1917 1918 1921 1924 1926 1928 1932 1934 1935 1936 1940 1940 1941 1942 1943 1943 1944 1945 1948 1950 1950 1951 1954 1954 Code 1962 1964 1968 1969 1971 1975 1976 1977 1978 1981 1982 Gas Tax 1984 COBRA 1986 1986 Code 1990 1993 1996 1997 1998 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 Crisis 2009 2010 2012

Tariffs	1789: Hamilton I 1790: Hamilton II 1792: Hamilton III 1816: Dallas 1824: Sectional 1828: "Abominations" 1832 1833: Compromise 1842: Black 1846: Walker 1857 1861: Morrill 1872 1875 1883: Mongrel 1890: McKinley 1894: Wilson–Gorman 1897: Dingley 1909: Payne-Aldrich 1913: Underwood 1921: Emergency 1922: Fordney-McCumber 1930: Smoot-Hawley 1934: Reciprocal 1948: GATT 1962 1974/75 1979 1984 1988 1988: Canada FT 1993: NAFTA 1994: WTO 2002: Steel

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