National Duties: Custom Houses and the Making of the American State

This study of 19th century commerce and federal oversight "reveals the importance of customs houses in the creation of the federal government" (Choice).

In the wake of the American Revolution, the young nation found itself victorious, liberated, and in millions of dollars of debt. To address this founding financial crisis, the nascent federal government devised a system of taxes on imported goods and installed custom houses at the nation's ports to collect the fees. But, as the United Sta...