Title: The Economic Costs of the Civil War - Foundation for Economic Education
Headings: The Economic Costs of the Civil War
The Economic Costs of the Civil War
Pensions and Tensions
Bribes Across America
Some Rollbacks
Burton W. Folsom

Content: The first and most important point is that the Civil War was expensive. In 1860 the U.S. national debt was $65 million. To put that in perspective, the national debt in 1789, the year George Washington took office, was $77 million. In other words, from 1789 to 1860, the United States spanned the continent, fought two major wars, and began its industrial growth—all the while reducing its national debt. We had limited government, few federal expenses, and low taxes. In 1860, on the eve of war, almost all federal revenue derived from the tariff. We had no income tax, no estate tax, and no excise taxes. Even the hated whiskey tax was gone. We had seemingly fulfilled Thomas Jefferson’s vision: “ What farmer, what mechanic, what laborer ever sees a tax-gatherer of the United States?”