The
regulations that were adopted regarded us in both respects as one
people. The duties and imposts that were laid on the vessels and
merchandise of foreign nations were all uniform throughout the United
States, and in the intercourse between the States themselves no duties
of any kind were imposed other than between different ports and
counties within the same State.
This view is supported by a series of measures, all of a marked
character, preceding the adoption of the Constitution. As early as the
year 1781 Congress recommended it to the States to vest in the United
States a power to levy a duty of 5 per cent on all goods imported from
foreign countries into the United States for the term of fifteen years.
In 1783 this recommendation, with alterations as to the kind of duties
and an extension of this term to twenty-five years, was repeated and
more earnestly urged. In 1784 it was recommended to the States to
authorize Congress to prohibit, under certain modifications, the
importation of goods from foreign powers into the United States for
fifteen years.
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