'Before the Morrill Tariff'

'Before the Morrill Tariff'

Part of an April, 1861 take on British reactions to the passage of the Morrill Tariff by Congress the month before, printed by the U.S. publication Harper's Weekly.

The first in a pair of images printed by Harper's Weekly shortly after the start of the Civil War, focusing on British responses to the recently passed Morrill Tariff. In a move unpopular with foreign industrial producers such as Britain, the U.S. Congress voted to pass an increased tariff on the importation of goods. This cartoon addresses the controversy that emerged regarding competition between the U.K.'s anti-slavery interests and its economic connections to both the Union and to the South, the latter a key source of the cotton supply necessary to support British industry throughout the first half of the 19th century.

Special Collections and College Archives, Musselman Library, Gettysburg College

April 20, 1861

Public Domain

'After the Morrill Tariff', the second image of the pair.

English

Still Image

Political Cartoon