Quote:
Originally posted by Spanky
I am pretty sure, and someone correct me if I am wrong, but during most of the nineteenth century we had high tariffs that brought in a lot of revenue and the Federal government was not spending a lot of money. So unless we were at war we were running surpluses. It wasn't until WWI that we started running deficits consistently.
Am I wrong?
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Yes, you are wrong. Also, through the 19th century, much of the government's income was also from land sales.
If you want to understand the 19th century's economic history better, besides a quick read through of some material on Alexander Hamilton and on the debt from the Revolutionary War, you may want to look up "American System" and "National Bank", since much of the debate in the first half of the century focused on these terms.
