Tariff of 1816

The Tariff of 1816, also known as the Dallas Tariff, is notable as the first tariff passed by Congress with an explicit function of protecting U.S. manufactured items from overseas competition. Prior to the War of 1812, tariffs had primarily served to raise revenues to operate the national government. Another unique aspect of the tariff was the strong support it received from Southern states.

The bill was conceived as part of a solution to the purely domestic matter of avoiding a projected federal deficit reported by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander J. Dallas. International developments added key facts to the debate; in 1816 there was widespread concern among Americans that war with the United Kingdom might be rekindled over economic and territorial issues. A tariff on manufactured goods, including war industry products, was deemed essential in the interests of national defense.

The tariff was approved on April 27, 1816, as a temporary measure, authorized for only three years (until June 1820). Northern efforts to establish permanent protection in 1820, after tensions with Britain had eased, provoked a backlash among Southern legislators. The South consistently opposed protective tariffs during the remainder of the antebellum period.