Debt and Taxes
As a young nation, the United States had acquired a massive amount of debt during the Revolution. A severe depression affected the nation during 1784-85. Problems between farmers in debt and collectors in Massachusetts led to events such as Shays' Rebellion. The South was especially affected by the economic problems. Almost 60,000 slaves were lost during the Revolution, almost 30,000 in South Carolina and Georgia alone. To create more financial problems for the South, Great Britain refused to import Southern goods into the British West Indies, one of their largest markets. Eventually, Hamilton's idea of paying off the debt would bring about better relations with other countries.
Read more about this topic: America's Critical Period
Famous quotes containing the words debt and/or taxes:
“A good debt is not as good as no debt.”
—Chinese proverb.
“The contented and economically comfortable have a very discriminating view of government. Nobody is ever indignant about bailing out failed banks and failed savings and loans associations.... But when taxes must be paid for the lower middle class and poor, the government assumes an aspect of wickedness.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)