The similarity to the mandate is superficial. Think of it like charging a fee for using a national park. Any sailor who didn't wish to pay could leave his job, once ashore. There were opportunities to sign on with foreign flag vessels or leave the profession.
The govt's idea was to attract and keep as many able seamen as possible for the Republic's commerical wellbeing.Hospital care was beyond the reach of most in the early 19th century, and giving those in a dangerous but vital occupation a chance at obtaining itat reasonable expense was in the national interest of the Republic.
ON the other hand, it was also an unwarranted intrusion into the private lives of the sailors. They should not have been required to pay taxes and use these services, if they didn’t want to.
Oddly, it turns out that our founding fathers were not perfect. I’m sure though that every liberal today making this argument also thinks that slavery was a good thing, since John Adams signed a document that institutionalized slavery for our country.
Besides, in this instance Congress actually had the guts to call it a tax.
Obamacare could have been funded the same way, without recourse to the Commerce Clause and individual mandates, but Pelosi, Reid and Obama knew that if they called a tax a tax, the whole thing would have gone down in flames.