Editing Morrill Tariff (section)

===1860 election===
The Republican Party included a strong pro-tariff plank in its 1860 platform and sent prominent tariff advocates touting the bill, such as Morrill and Sherman, to campaign in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where the tariff was popular. Both Democratic candidates, [[John C. Breckinridge]] and [[Stephen Douglas]], opposed all high tariffs and protectionism in general.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cwcrossroads.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/tariffs-government-policy-and-secession |title=Tariffs, Government Policy, and Secession|date=25 January 2011}}</ref>

The historian Reinhard H. Luthin documents the importance of the Morrill Tariff to the Republicans in the 1860 presidential election.<ref>Luthin, p. 622</ref> Lincoln's record as a protectionist and support for the Morrill bill, he notes, helped him to secure support in the important state of Pennsylvania and neighboring New Jersey. Lincoln carried Pennsylvania handily in November, as part of his sweep of the North.

On February 14, 1861, President-elect Lincoln told an audience in [[Pittsburgh]] that he would make a new tariff his priority in the next session if the bill did not pass by his inauguration, on March 4.