- The tariff of 1828 was passed by Congress on May 19th, 1828.
- The purpose of this tariff was to protect business in the Northern part of the United States because they were being forced to go out of business from goods that were low in price and had a high tax on them.
- The tariff of 1828 affected the Southern parts of the United States negatively because they were then forced to pay extreme prices on good that their area didn't produce.
- Because of the many different increases in taxes during this time period, it was known as a time of economic downfall, and the tariff of 1828 was one of the highest taxes made in history.
- To Review: the tariff of 1828 affected the Northern states in a positive way by protecting them from competition for goods. It affected the Southern states in a negative way by limiting the amount of agricultural goods that the Southern states could make.
Connection to George Washington and Farewell Address
The tariff or 1828 relates to George Washington and his Farewell Address because credit and other financial issues such as tariffs were a main issue that Washington discussed in the address. He talked about how sometimes it is necessary to spend money but that we should try to work as a whole to stay away from debt. A couple of the ways we can do this is by avoiding war and trying to steer clear from borrowing money from other countries/states. Although sometimes the states government does need money, and to get this money the government puts taxes on things. The tariffs that were raised in 1828 did help some of the states in regards to their financial and agricultural needs, but on the downside, it also affected some states for the worse. The tariff helped the Northern states because it eliminated a lot of the competition they had in regards to their imported and exported goods. In turn, the tariff negatively affected the Southern states because it made it more difficult for them to make their agricultural goods. Washington stated several times throughout the address that he as a leader would and did make several mistakes (although not intentionally), and that the only way we can change and improve from our mistakes, is as a Country as a whole.
Event Assessment
The tariff of 1828 can relate to what we have been learning this year so far because it shows that sometimes things will be done that do not help every single state, or every single person, but they will still need to occur. In 1828, many of the Southern states were upset by this tariff, but it was necessary for the Northern states to help them and to keep their businesses on good ground. We have learned about how the Constitution was made to create equality and unity throughout the United States. Even though this document was made in hope that none of the states would fight or have war, because that would ruin the peace, war still and always will occur. This just goes to show that even though the Tariff in 1828 caused some positive things to occur, it still caused some controversy as well. This may be interpreted as an expansion of liberty in the opinions of the Northern state residents, because it helped to prevent their businesses from going out of business. On the flip side, the residents of the Southern states may see not see this as an expansion of liberty, because they did not benefit from it. Overall, I think that the tariff of 1828 could have been made to help benefit all the states, but sometimes that is not always possible, and it still established justice for many of the states that were suffering financially and agriculturally.