So it was, and so it is with the great Democratic party, which, from the days of Jefferson until this period, has proven itself to be the historic party of this nation. While the Whig and Democratic parties differed in regard to a bank, the tariff, distribution, the specie circular and the sub-treasury, they agreed on the great slavery question which now agitates the Union. I say that the Whig party and the Democratic party agreed on this slavery question while they differed on those matters of expediency to which I have referred.
Up to 1854 the old Whig party and the Democratic party had stood on a common platform so far as this slavery question was concerned. You Whigs and we Democrats differed about the bank, the tariff, distribution, the specie circular and the sub-treasury, but we agreed on this slavery question and the true mode of preserving the peace and harmony of the Union.
Some one else can post the other four references to the tariff from the seven debates. The next step would be to actually read the documents in full with reference to a calendar and the whole body of Lincoln's words and deeds, and in comparison to other documents of their day. That's a lot of work that I'm not about to do.
In any case, Lincoln did think about the tariff. Politicians do have to think about the issues of the day. If he received a letter from a tariff advocate or had to give a speech before a pro-tariff group, he would have to address the subject. But a brief examination of the record does suggest that the tariff was much less on Lincoln's mind in the late 1850s and 1860s than it was in his youth in the 1830s and 1840s. The database yields few or no references to the tariff by Lincoln during his Presidency, though he may have used other words to refer to import duties.
The tariff was an important issue in American history. It was even explosive in the 1830-1 nullification crisis. But it would be a mistake to view this issue through the lens of 20th century conflicts over freedom versus socialism. The founders all accepted that tariffs would finance the federal government. Having a protective tariff did not imply having a powerful welfare state. Di Lorenzo's idea that because Hamilton or Clay or Lincoln or McKinley favored a protective tariff they were socialists or statists in some way that their opponents weren't, is not something that most other observers, at the time or now, would accept.
Would you please consider providing me with a few paragraphs synopsis of Whig policy concerning the funding of the FEDGOV, as it would save my aching eyeballs and would be greatly appreciated?
If you would also include your assessment of Lincoln with regard to the extent to which he implemented, expanded, or curtailed such Whig-like economic policies, I would be much obliged.