Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division . Brady-Handy Photograph Collection

By Jane Flaherty

Historians dispute whether the American Civil War accelerated or impeded the extraordinary economic growth that occurred in the United States during the postbellum era . What is beyond debate is that the Civil War was a turning point in the transformation of the federal government from a small , “ pinchpenny ” federalist institution to a postwar , national “ leviathan .” Antebellum federal expenditures crested at $ 74.1 million in 1858 ; but after the war , the government ’ s expenses never dropped below $ 230 million . This

Portrait of Senator Justin Smith Morrill , circa 1855 – 1865 . dramatic transformation occurred very quickly . To finance the war , the Union government followed the traditional practice of borrowing to meet military costs , while taxing to pay ordinary government expenditures and service the burgeoning debt . Much has been written about the successful bond drive initiated by Jay Cooke ; less studied , but equally significant , was the revenue program initiated during the war .

Between 1863 – 1872 , the Union — then national — government extracted $ 1.739 billion in internal revenue and $ 1.570 billion in customs duties from the tax-averse American populace . Prior to the Civil War , the federal government relied overwhelmingly on customs duties to meet its expenses ; national internal taxes had not been levied since the War of 1812 . Despite this legacy , the Union was able to conceive and execute a transformational revenue program that met the government ’ s needs and provided bond investors with the confidence that interest would be paid and the principal would remain intact . Annual interest payments were as high as $ 143.8 million ( in 1867 ), twice the entire federal budget just nine years prior . All this was accomplished without any significant tax revolt . As Roger Lowenstein observes , “ The federal government not only paid for the war ; it had emerged from it financially stronger .”

Justin Smith Morrill was the person most responsible for the Union ’ s successful revenue program . Morrill was born in the small town of Stratford , Vermont in 1810 . His formal education ended at age 13 when he left school to support his family . He worked as a store clerk until he opened his own country store in Stratford . His business acumen led to early financial independence . In 1848 , he retired from commerce and began dabbling in horticulture and gentleman farming . He was elected to Congress as a Whig in 1854 ; in his second term , he joined the nascent Republican party . He served in the House until 1867 when the Vermont legislature elected him to the Senate . He held that office until his death in 1898 . Morrill had “ one of the most fruitful legislative careers ” in congressional history , according to one of his 19th-century admirers .

Throughout his public life , Morrill was more pragmatic than ideological . He described himself as a champion of “ frugal agriculturists ” whose “ cardinal virtue is thrift .” In both the House and Senate , Morrill prioritized the interest of his Vermont

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