Consumption of lead in the United States was dominated by white lead paint for almost 250 years. The Louisiana purchase of 1804 brought with it major deposits of Lead along the Mississippi valley, but at the start of the war of 1812, lead was still a major import product. 2.5 million pounds of lead was imported between 1801 and 1810. In 1804, the Wetherill Company built it's first white lead plant in Philadelphia. It's story gives us a glimpse of manufacturing before and during the War of 1812.
"During its construction the local agents of British manufacturers repeatedly warned them against this venture, saying frankly that they had orders to cut prices and drive them out of business. Shortly after the plant was completed it was destroyed by fire, and the next day an Englishman, who had openly foretold the ruin of the Wetherills’ white lead enterprise, sailed for England followed by strong suspicions of incendiarism. It was four years before the plant was rebuilt and then at a new location at 12th and Cherry streets. Once it was in production, the importers made American product. These attacks stopped abruptly with the outbreak of the war (of 1812) which cut off all imports from Britain but also brought in domestic competition."
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Then as the war ended, and trade opened up, Great Britain began to flood the United States market with cheap materials and products including white lead. President James Madison, saw the danger of America becoming once again dependent upon imported products and materials. He also knew the impact this would have on the Northern factories. So in 1816, he urged congress to enact a Tariff, not to raise revenue, but to protect manufacturing. This included a 3 cents per pound tariff on white lead paint. While, this might not seem like a lot, it was enough to protect Whetherill and the fledgling white lead industry from cheap imports of white lead from Great Britain. James Madison wanted to save Wetherill Company and thousands of other manufacturers across the North.
In December 1816, after the tariff had already passed, James Madison explained his rationale to congress:
"Amidst the advantages which have succeeded the peace of Europe, and that of the United States with Great Britain, in a general invigoration of industry among us and in the extension of our commerce, the value of which is more and more disclosing itself to commercial nations, it is to be regretted that a depression is experienced by particular branches of our manufactures and by a portion of our navigation. As the first proceeds in an essential degree from an excess of imported merchandise, which carries a check in its own tendency, the cause in its present extent can not be very long in duration. The evil will not, however, be viewed by Congress without a recollection that manufacturing establishments, if suffered to sink too low or languish too long, may not revive after the causes shall have ceased, and that in the vicissitudes of human affairs situations may recur in which a dependence on foreign sources for indispensable supplies may be among the most serious embarrassments."The Tariff of 1816, was passed on April 27, 1816 with support from both the North and surprisingly from the South as well. Some southern patriots, war hawks like Henry Clay of Kentucky were strident foes of British aggression and saw this tariff as a war measure and vital to the survival of the American republic.
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