ABSTRACT
Washington sounded the note of national economic independence when he signed the first Federalist measure, the Tariff Act of 1789. The Federalist program of taxation, public credit, bank, and coinage broadened the foundations of the national economy. The immediate result was a vast increase in the paper wealth of the country—of credit resources, of currency available for business. Madison opened the tariff debate in the House by offering a simple proposal to levy imposts, mainly for the sake of revenue. Immediately there arose a demand for protection which arrayed Southerners against sponsors of manufacturing in the North. Seaboard farmers, like city capitalists, could be owners of public securities, favor home manufactures as a means of increasing the demand for farm products, welcome inflation that would raise land values, and approve of a strong government that might enlarge foreign markets for American exports.
