Fairly low tariffs equally applied were the preferred type of taxation by the Founding Fathers. They were right.
The War of 1812 was financed without an income tax and with interruptions in tariff revenue. A generation and a half after the Revolution America had neglected its Department of War and its marksmanship. The Washington, DC sacking by the Brits was our humiliation but we soon drilled reserves into forces that were formidable. The Battle of New Orleans showed we could defend a city.