Title: The Long Story of U.S. Debt, From 1790 to 2011, in 1 Little Chart - The Atlantic
Headings: The Long Story of U.S. Debt, From 1790 to 2011, in 1 Little Chart
Business
The Long Story of U.S. Debt, From 1790 to 2011, in 1 Little Chart
FREEDOM ISN'T FREE
CIVIL WAR
IN THE TRENCHES
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
WORLD WAR II
REAGONOMICS
W.
THE GREAT RECESSION
THE ROAD TO $16 TRILLION

Content: People hated it. After all, the country had just fought a war inspired in part by a revolt against the taxation imposed by the British. But the federal government stuck to its guns, literally suppressing an armed anti-tax uprising in western Pennsylvania in 1794, known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Meanwhile, the economy grew, helping to shrink debt-to-GDP. Later on, Hamilton's arch-nemesis, Thomas Jefferson, was even more focused on paying off the debt as fast as possible, driving US debt-to-GDP below 10%. All this work was undone, when the US had to borrow heavily to finance the war of 1812. CIVIL WAR
The next major surge in debt coincided with the US Civil War. The federal government was nearly debt-free before the war. The public debt surged from about $65 million in 1860 to $2.76 billion in 1866 . (The Lincoln administration also signed into law the first income tax in the country's history in 1862, which was repealed 10 years later.)