Examples of national debt in the following topics:
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- During his first administration, the national debt fell from $2.5 billion to $2.2 billion.
- Following in line with the Republican Party national platform of 1868, Secretary Boutwell advocated that the national debt must be reduced and the United States return to a gold specie economy.
- In 1870, Congress, at his recommendation, passed an act providing for the funding of the national debt and authorizing the selling of certain bonds, but not authorizing an increase of the debt.
- By May 1869, Boutwell reduced the national debt by $12 million.
- By September, the national debt was reduced by $50 million.
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- Under Hamilton's new economic system, which had been largely pushed through Congress, farmers who sold their grain in the form of whiskey had to pay a new tax which they bitterly resented as part of an effort to collect revenue to pay off the national debt.
- Under the Constitution of 1789, however, the federal government was given taxation authority and Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, was called upon to create a financial system that would eradicate national debt and collect revenue for national prosperty.
- In his Report on Public Credit, he urged Congress to consolidate the state and national debts into a single debt that would be funded by the federal government that would be paid not only though import duties, but also, an excise tax on domestically distilled spirits.
- Although such taxes were politically unpopular, Hamilton believed the whiskey excise was a luxury tax that would be the least objectionable tax the government could levy, and it would ultimately benefit the body politic by paying off foreign debt and stabilizing the United States economy.
- The Washington administration's suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion met with widespread popular approval, and demonstrated the new national government had the willingness and ability to suppress violent resistance to its laws.
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- In order to foster economic development in a financially shaky new nation, Hamilton stressed the development of manufacturing and commercial interests.
- The United States was born mired in debt.
- In 1789, when Alexander Hamilton was appointed as Secretary of the Treasury, the federal debt was more than $53 million, and the states had a combined debt of around $25 million.
- The United States had been unable to pay its debts in the 1780s and was therefore considered a credit risk by European countries.
- As part of his economic policies designed to address the national debt, Hamilton urged Congress to impose a tax on domestically distilled liquors.
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- The colonies could trade freely with the West Indies and other European nations instead of just Britain.
- As cash flow continued to decline, the United States had to rely on European loans to maintain the war effort; France, Spain, and the Netherlands lent the U.S. over $10 million during the war, causing major debt problems for the fledgling nation.
- The national debt after the American Revolution fell into three categories.
- There was general agreement to pay the foreign debts at full value.
- Superintendent of Finance, did the national government have a strong leader in financial matters.
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- Inequality throughout the nation also increased.
- John Kenneth Galbraith called the Saving and Loans crisis "the largest and costliest venture in public misfeasance, malfeasance and larceny of all time. " In order to compensate for these new federal budget deficits, the United States borrowed heavily, both domestically and abroad, raising the national debt from $997 billion to $2.85 trillion.
- Reagan labeled the new debt the "greatest disappointment" of his presidency.
- Tax breaks and increased military spending resulted in an increase of the national budget deficit, which influenced Reagan and Congress to approve two tax increases that aimed to preserve funding for Social Security.
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- In his assessments, Hamilton decided that the country's debt fell into three broad categories: those owed to foreign governments and investors; those owed by the national government to American merchants, farmers, soldiers, and other holders of Revolutionary War bonds; and those owed by state governments.
- In his "Report on Public Credit," Hamilton also made a controversial proposal to streamline debt repayment by assuming state debt into the federal debt, essentially making the federal government responsible for all debt repayment and giving it much more power.
- With this in mind, Hamilton called the debt "a powerful cement of our Union."
- There was a heated debate between Democratic-Republicans and Federalists over the constitutionality of a National Bank.
- After reading Hamilton's defense of the National Bank Act, Washington signed the bill into law.
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- An inability to handle trade restrictions, debt, and uprisings in the late 1780s showed the weakness of federal powers.
- There was no president and no national court.
- Although historians generally agree that the Articles were too weak to hold the fast-growing nation together, they do give them credit to the settlement of the western issue, as the states voluntarily turned over their lands to national control.
- By 1783, with the end of the British blockade, the new nation was regaining its prosperity.
- The future of the young nation looked grim.
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- The Confederation faced several difficulties in its early years related to taxation, debt, political unrest and limitations on trade.
- States also refused to require its citizens to pay debts to British merchants, which strained relations with Great Britain.
- There was no president and no national court.
- Although historians generally agree that the Articles were too weak to hold the fast-growing nation together, they do give credit to the settlement of the western issue, as the states voluntarily turned over their lands to national control.
- By 1783, with the end of the British blockade, the new nation was regaining its prosperity.
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- The United States began to become mired in debt.
- In 1789, when Hamilton took up his post, the federal debt was more than $53 million, and the states had a combined debt of around $25 million.
- The United States had been unable to pay its debts in the 1780s and was therefore considered a credit risk by European countries.
- Though the Constitution was ambiguous as to the exact balance of power between national and state governments, Hamilton consistently argued in favor of greater federal power at the expense of the states, especially in his efforts to strengthen the national economy.
- In addition to the National Bank, Hamilton founded the U.S.
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- They designated no president and no national court, and the central government's power was kept quite limited.
- The states and Congress both incurred large debts during the Revolutionary War, and the federal government assumed these debts when some states failed to settle them.
- Congress' inability to encourage commerce and economic development—or to redeem the public obligations (debts) incurred during the war—significantly hindered its power.
- Alexander Hamilton was particularly vocal in arguing that a strong central government was necessary to levy taxes, pay back foreign debts, regulate trade, and generally strengthen the United States.