IV.

The Tariff of 1828 and Later Crisis

Demands on the part of wool manufacturers for greater protection led to the tariff of 1828; it provided for the highest rates to date and was later popularly called the Tariff of Abominations. Persistent agitation against the tariff of 1828 resulted in the enactment in 1832 of a law that established rates approximating those of 1824. South Carolina, however, was not appeased and declared null and void the tariff acts of both 1828 and 1832. The ensuing political crisis threatened to disrupt the Union, and President Andrew Jackson threatened to use force to compel the submission of South Carolina (see Nullification). A clash was averted when Congress adopted the so-called compromise tariff of 1833, introduced by the statesman Henry Clay. He advanced the so-called home-market argument, which was designed to reconcile the interests of the agricultural South and West with those of the manufacturing North. The argument rested on the proposition that the prosperity of the American farmer depends on a regular and constant market for products and that such a market is to be obtained only by building up manufacturing centers within the country. The act of 1833 provided for a gradual reduction of certain high customs duties until 1842. For a time these reductions were made, but after national revenues were seriously reduced as a result of the economic crisis of 1837, tariff rates were increased; the level of duties established by the Tariff Act of 1842, sponsored by the Whigs (see Whig Party), was approximately that of 1832.

In the administration of President James K. Polk the Democrats achieved control of national legislation. In 1846 they instituted a tariff that was frequently, but not entirely accurately, called a free-trade tariff. This tariff protected various industries with duties averaging about 30 percent. Congress again lowered customs duties in 1857, but before they became effective, economic crises led to their reinstatement.