Describe how tariffs were used to fund the United States Government prior to the imposition of the permanent income tax in the early 1900's.

How Tariffs Were Used To Fund the United States before The Imposition of the Permanent Income Tax in the Early 1900’s
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
How Tariffs Were Used to Fund the United States Before the Imposition of the Permanent Income Tax in the Early 1900’s
Tariffs refer to taxes executed on products and services imported from other nations. In the 1990’s, the government used public land sales, excise taxes, and tariffs to generate revenue before income tax was imposed (Abraham, 1988). As a result, the congress was able to control the federal government with mostly tariffs because the government then had few roles and functions. The government mainly depended on custom duties before income tax was introduced in 1913. Periods such as the custom duties and rising excise tax era were identified before 1863 and after 1863 respectively.
The custom duties occurred before 1812. However, the tariff policy was not effective because it was primarily focused on raising revenue instead of imposing protection. As a result, debates, and controversies occurred regarding the internal revenue sources such as direct and excise taxes that caused the federalists to focus on wielding the power of taxing people in the constitution. Moreover, the independence war or revolutionary war that occurred in 1775 to 1778 left the U.S. with a huge debt that was supposed to be paid ("United States Participation in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade", 1961). Therefore, the United States government decided to tax imports (tariffs) and to tax tobacco and alcohol sales (excises) (Staton, 2014). The imposed taxes on alcohol caused farmers in Pennsylvania to form the “Whiskey Rebellion” of 1794. Furthermore, the government enacted taxes on property in 1798 to help in financing its army in France. After Thomas Jefferson was elected as the US president, the government administration decided to abolish direct and excise taxes.
The United States experienced a high demand on income, which caused the tariffs to be doubled after the end of 1812 war. Therefore, the government experienced a decrease in customs revenue, whereas the new tariff policy affected international trade significantly. Conversely, the...