Passed on July 2, 1862, this act made it possible for new western states to establish colleges for their citizens. The new land-grant institutions, which emphasized agriculture and mechanic arts, opened opportunities to thousands of farmers and working people previously excluded from higher education.

The Morrill Tariff was an increased import tariff in the United States that was adopted on March 2, 1861, during the administration of US President James Buchanan, a Democrat. The schedule of the Morrill Tariff and both of its successors were retained long after the end of the Civil War.

The Tariff Act of 1789 was the first major piece of legislation passed in the United States after the ratification of the United States Constitution and it had two purposes. It was to protect manufacturing industries developing in the nation and was to raise revenue for the federal government.

Causes of the Civil War

• Slavery. At the heart of the divide between the North and the South was slavery.
• States’ Rights. The idea of states’ rights was not new to the Civil War.
• Expansion.
• Industry vs.
• Bleeding Kansas.
• Abraham Lincoln.
• Secession.
• Activities.

The major goal of the tariff was to protect the factories by taxing imports from Europe. Southerners from the cotton belt, particularly those from South Carolina, felt they were harmed directly by having to pay more for imports from Europe.

The Morrill Tariff was passed in order to raise the much-needed revenue during the Civil War. It also raised rates to boost industry and increased the wages of industrial workers.

The Act Laying Duties on Imports was communicated by Alexander Hamilton to the United States House of Representatives on April 23, 1790. In order to promote manufacturing in the United States, Hamilton proposed that imported goods be more expensive, which would force Americans to buy more homemade products.

What is an example of a tariff? An example of a tariff could be a tariff on steel. This means that any steel imported from another country would incur a tariff—for example, 5% of the value of the imported goods—paid by the individual or business importing the goods.

April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865
American Civil War/Periods

On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate troops to the Union’s Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, marking the beginning of the end of the grinding four-year-long American Civil War.

The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or simply the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting against the United States forces in order to uphold the institution of …

Calhoun, who opposed the federal imposition of the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 and argued that the U.S. Constitution gave states the right to block the enforcement of a federal law. In November 1832 South Carolina adopted the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the tariffs null, void, and nonbinding in the state.

Eager for substitutes, Americans built their own factories in the Northeast. How did the Tariff of 1816 affect the North and the South? The inflated price for imports encouraged Americans to buy products made in the U.S. The tariff helped industry, but it hurt farmers, who had to pay higher prices for consumer goods.

On 2 March 1861, the Morrill Tariff was signed into law by outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan to protect northern infant industries.

It conveniently ignores the subject of enslavement, which had become the dominant political issue in America in the decade preceding the Civil War. So the simple answer to common questions about the Morrill Tariff is, no, it was not the “real cause” of the Civil War.

Sugar, wool, flaxseed, hides, beef, pork, corn, grain, hemp, wool, and minerals would all be protected by the Morrill Tariff. The duty on sugar might well be expected to appease Southerners opposed to tariffs, and, notably, wool and flaxseed production were growing industries in the West.

The idea of a tariff was actually nothing new. The United States government had first enacted a tariff in 1789, and a series of tariffs had been the law of the land throughout the early 19th century. Anger in the South over a tariff was also nothing new.