<P> The debts of the federal government on January 1, 1791 amounted to $75,463,476.52, of which about $40 million was domestic debt, $12 million was foreign debt, and $18.3 million were state debts assumed by the federal government, of the $21.5 million that had been authorized . </P> <P> To reduce the debt, from 1796 to 1811 there were 14 budget surpluses and 2 deficits . There was a sharp increase in the debt as a result of the War of 1812 . In the 20 years following that war, there were 18 surpluses . </P> <P> On January 1, 1835, president Andrew Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished . </P> <P> In 1836 US started to have debt one more time (the debt on January 1, 1836 was $37,000). </P>

When was the last time the us had no federal deficit