The campaign for higher import duties was strong because it was well organized and benefited from nationwide publicity. A Philadelphia printer named Mathew Carey helped establish the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of National Industry that joined other groups in sending memorials and petitions to Congress asking for greater protection for domestic industries. Carey played a key role in spreading the agitation for a higher tariff outside of Pennsylvania to the nation at large.20 Carey’s argument was simple: free trade led to a drain in specie, the decay of industry, and the rise in
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