Protective+Tariff+Alexander+Hamilton+P1

A tariff is a tax placed on imports to support the economy of the country. This tariff in particular was to do two things: support the economy of the north through the increase in price of foreign goods and gain money to repay the slowly increasing debt from. The first tariff was input by Hamilton before he was put into office in 1789.

The key thing is that we as a country need to build revenue, and the biggest way of a government doing this is to tax. This is only one of the many ways that our government could tax the poeple, but this process can influence our society in two major ways: protection of American producers and decreasing the national debt.

The decrease of the national debt is key to the devlopement of our country. Without the revenue from the tariff, the governemnt could not gain more money that it might need in the future from the Netherlands. Although not very high (a whopping average eight percent on all products), the quantity of imports increases the revenue emmensely and decreases the country's debt from the high $75 million. __//Question: How do you, Thomas Jefferson, expect the country to remove this debt? Do we not input the tariff and allow it to rise even higher?//__

The protection of our American producers is key to the American economy. If we spend all of our money on the prieviously less expensive British goods, we do not have as much money for our economy to prosper. Through this tariff, the Americans will have a better income, allowing a stimulus to our economy. Any products that can be made here can become the cause of our country's successful economy. Our current amount of exports are not numerous, creating a major inbalance in trade. __//Question: If we spend our money mostly on foreign goods, how do we protect ourselves from falling into even more debt and our economy from spinning out of control?//__