ABSTRACT
The United States Revenue Cutter Service was the first armed service organized by the new government to deter smuggling and enforce customs laws and payment of tariffs. On 4 August 1790 Congress passed the bill authorizing the employment of forty officers and the construction of ten boats to collect revenue. President George Washington signed the commissions of the first officers on 21 March 1791, and Hopley Yeaton became the first seagoing officer commissioned by the United States.
