<P> The American Civil War (1861 - 1865) was fought over the issue of tariffs as well as slavery . At the time of independence, the agrarian interests of the South were opposed to any protection, while the manufacturing interests of the North wanted to maintain it . The fledgling Republican Party led by Abraham Lincoln, who called himself a "Henry Clay tariff Whig", strongly opposed free trade, and implemented a 44 - percent tariff during the Civil War--in part to pay for railroad subsidies and for the war effort, and to protect favored industries. . In 1847, he declared: "Give us a protective tariff, and we shall have the greatest nation on earth". </P> <P> Most economists hold the opinion that the tariff act did not greatly worsen the great depression: </P> <P> Milton Friedman held the opinion that the Smoot--Hawley tariff of 1930 did not cause the Great Depression, instead he blamed the lack of sufficient action on the part of the Federal Reserve . Douglas A. Irwin wrote: "most economists, both liberal and conservative, doubt that Smoot--Hawley played much of a role in the subsequent contraction ". </P> <P> Peter Temin, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explained that a tariff is an expansionary policy, like a devaluation as it diverts demand from foreign to home producers . He noted that exports were 7 percent of GNP in 1929, they fell by 1.5 percent of 1929 GNP in the next two years and the fall was offset by the increase in domestic demand from tariff . He concluded that contrary the popular argument, contractionary effect of the tariff was small . </P>

A tariff is meant to reduce the amount of competition for which group