Editing Morrill Tariff (section)

===Origins===
[[Tariff in United States history]] has often been made high to encourage the development of domestic industry, and had been advocated, especially by the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] and its longtime leader, [[Henry Clay]]. Such a tariff was enacted in 1842, but in 1846 the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] enacted the [[Walker Tariff]], which cut tariff rates substantially. The Democrats cut rates even further in the [[Tariff of 1857]], which was highly favorable to the South.

Meanwhile, the Whig Party collapsed, and tariffs were taken up by the new [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], which ran its first national ticket in 1856. Some former Whigs from the [[border states (American Civil War)|border states]] and the [[Upper South]] remained in Congress as "Opposition," "Unionist," or "American," ([[Know Nothing]]) members and supported higher tariffs.

The [[Panic of 1857]] led to calls for protectionist tariff revision. The famous economist [[Henry C. Carey]] blamed the panic on the new tariff. His opinion was widely circulated in the [[protectionist]] media for higher tariffs.

Efforts to raise the tariffs began in earnest in the [[35th United States Congress|35th Congress]] of 1857–1859. Two proposals were submitted in the [[US House of Representatives]].

[[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|House Ways and Means Committee]] Chairman [[John S. Phelps]], Democrat from [[Missouri]], wrote the Democrats' plan, which retained most of the low rates of the Tariff of 1857, with minor revisions to stimulate revenue.

Ways and Means members Morrill and [[Henry Winter Davis]], a [[Maryland]] "American," produced the Republican proposal to raise the tariffs. It replaced the existing ''[[ad valorem]]'' tariff schedule with specific duties and drastically increased tariff rates on goods that were produced by popular "protected" industries, such as iron, textiles, and other manufactured goods. The economic historian [[Frank Taussig]] argued that in many cases, the substitution of specific duties was used to disguise the extent of the rate increases.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} Supporters of the specific rates argued that they were necessary because European exporters routinely provided US customers with fake invoices showing lower prices for goods than were actually paid. Specific rates made such subterfuge pointless.

However, the House took no action on either tariff bill during the [[35th Congress]].