Editing Morrill Tariff (section)

==Impact==
In its first year of operation, the Morrill Tariff increased the effective rate collected on dutiable imports by approximately 70%. In 1860, American tariff rates were among the lowest in the world and also at historical lows by 19th-century standards, the average rate for 1857 to 1860 being around 17% overall (''ad valorem''), 21% on dutiable items only. The Morrill Tariff immediately raised those averages to about 26% overall, or 36% on dutiable items. Further increases by 1865 left the comparable rates at 38% and 48%. Although higher than in the immediate antebellum period, the new rates were still significantly lower than between 1825 and 1830, when rates had sometimes been over 50%.<ref>[http://pw1.netcom.com/~rdavis2/tariffs.html U.S. Tariff Rates – Ratio of Import Duties to Values: 1821-1996<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The United States needed $3 billion to pay for the immense armies and fleets raised to fight the Civil War, over $400&nbsp;million for 1862 alone. The chief source of revenue had been tariffs. Therefore, Secretary of the Treasury [[Salmon P. Chase]], despite being a longtime free-trader, worked with Morrill to pass a second tariff bill in summer 1861, which raised rates another 10% to generate more revenue.<ref>Richardson, 100, 113</ref> The subsequent bills were primarily revenue driven to meet the war's needs but enjoyed the support of protectionists such as Carey, who again assisted Morrill in the bill's drafting.

However, the tariff played only a modest role in financing the war and was far less important than other measures, such as $2.8 billion in bond sales and some printing of [[Greenback (1860s money)|greenbacks]]. Customs revenue from tariffs totaled $345&nbsp;million from 1861 to 1865, or 43% of all federal tax revenue, but military spending totaled $3,065&nbsp;million.<ref>Jerry W. Markham, ''A financial history of the United States'' (2001) vol 3 p 220</ref>