Description:

Adams John 1735 - 1826 President John Adams, Vice President Thomas Jefferson, and 5th U.S. Congressmen deliberate on 1797 salt tax.

2pp printed broadside announcing passage of two acts of legislation, the first on June 27, 1797 and the second on July 8, 1797. The first act stipulated that American and foreign vessels could only be registered at U.S. ports once. The second act, and the one of more historical significance, concerned an increase of an existing salt tax to generate federal income. In very good condition, with deeply worn folds and some loss to edges and creases. Overall toning, scattered stains, and a rusted paper clip impression at upper right corner do not affect text. Broadside measures 8.125" x 13.625".

The July 8, 1797 salt legislation authorized a 66% tax increase on this valuable commodity after September 30, 1797. American and foreign ships were already taxed 12 cents per bushel of salt, and the July 8, 1797 law would raise it 8 cents to a total of 20 cents per bushel. Foreign salt cargo was taxed an additional 10%. Section 2 permitted a "drawback" or reduction of the tax to the New England dried and pickled fish industries.

An 1851 published account of 5th U.S. Congress proceedings shows that congressmen vigorously debated the advantages and disadvantages of the salt tax in the days immediately preceding the law's passage. Proponents of the salt tax saw it as a way of closing the gap between U.S. expenditure and revenue. Critics of the salt tax, notably future House Majority Leader Albert Gallatin (1761-1849), argued that the tax would unfairly impact the poor. Gallatin asserted that if more revenue was raised through the salt tax, the government would happily spend more of it, thus enlarging the national debt still further. This same financial conservatism molded many of Gallatin's future policies as 4th U.S. Secretary to the Treasury between 1801 and 1814.

The 1797 debate over the salt tax raised many of the issues that continually influence American politics today. It underscored the ideological divide between politicians, where two parties, in this case the Democratic-Republicans and Federalists, clashed over the role of government. The fledgling nation was forced to face the pecuniary realities of administrating its interests, where its expenditure far outstripped its income. Questions of equality were posed as fundamentally important: would the salt tax unfairly burden the poor, or one region more than another?

2nd U.S. President John Adams (1735-1826) approved passage of both laws. The question of the salt tax would resurface fifteen years later, during the War of 1812, when Gallatin reversed his position.

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