Tariff Wars and the Politics of Jacksonian America By William K. Bolt

Abstract

Finally, scholars and students of Jacksonian America have a monograph that explains convincingly why the tariff was one of the most important issues shaping the course of American politics from the War of 1812 to the eve of the Civil War. In covering the always volatile tariff issue from the 1812 Tariff to the Morrill Tariff of 1861—and including every tariff proposal, bill, and act in between—Bolt demonstrates beyond a doubt that few other issues, slavery included, dominated the national political landscape during the antebellum period. The author equally shows how the tariff became intertwined with, often determining, other prominent issues of the day, from the Missouri Crisis to territorial expansion.