Near the end of the 1700s, the United States was forced to pay Barbary pirates an annual tribute equal to 16% of its entire budget.

The Barbary Wars were an early test of whether a president could wage war without a formal declaration from Congress

Jefferson sent naval forces against North African pirates without a congressional declaration of war, acting under his own authority. Years later, Madison took the opposite approach and formally sought congressional authorization.

The Tariff Act of 1789 was one of America's first acts

One of the first acts ever passed by the United States Congress instituted tariffs on foreign goods. The bill was sponsored by then-Congressman James Madison and signed into law by President George Washington. The goods the first Congress felt necessary to tax included Jamaican rum, playing cards, and—of course—British tea.

The British Royal Navy—not the US military—enforced the Monroe Doctrine for most of the 19th century

In the early to mid-1800s, the US lacked the ships and military power to prevent European nations from colonizing the Americas. Britain enforced this to protect its commercial interests by keeping rival European powers out of Latin America.

The US has carried debt since 1791

After the Revolutionary War, the US owed $75M to nations like France. Debt builds when spending exceeds revenue, funding programs, wars, and economic recovery efforts. Most debt is domestic, like Social Security bonds, with foreign nations also holding a share.

Opposition to British taxes, regulation of trade was key to American independence

The economic situation in the colonies formed the backbone of the central events of the Revolution. British war debts caused it to lay the first direct taxes on colonists, cease their westward expansion claims, and adhere to stringent trade regulations, leading to backlash and eventual separation.

The 1783 peace treaty with Britain formally ended the Revolutionary War and nearly doubled the size of the United States.

Alexander Hamilton consolidated states' debts, implemented a tax system, and established a national bank

While the US was only 12 years old when Alexander Hamilton was tapped as the first secretary of the Treasury, it already owed almost $80M. With the country bringing in just $4.4M in taxes, that was not nearly enough to cover government operations and pay debts.

Where the world's most wanted pirate hid in the 1600s

Metal detectorists who discovered 500-year-old silver coins have helped support the theory that notorious 16th-century pirate Henry Every hid out in several American colonies.

Colonial Americans used tobacco, wampum, and land-backed notes to solve a chronic coin shortage

British coins rarely circulated in the colonies due to an unfavorable trade balance, forcing colonists to improvise. They traded in Spanish dollars, Native American shells, tobacco warehouse receipts, and eventually paper money backed by land rather than gold.

The trans-Atlantic slave trade brought over 10 million enslaved people to the Americas.

How massive cargo ships fight off modern pirates

Piracy on the high seas costs a reported $16 billion each year from either theft or damage incurred during an attempt to pirate massive cargo ships. This video breaks down several ways companies attempt to fend off would-be thieves. Pirate crews are...

A brief introduction to modern-day pirates

Modern piracy is rarely punished and costs over $35M per day. Unlike the pirates of the past who often spent their lives living at sea, today's pirates typically operate from shore.

Delegates at the First Continental Congress affirmed loyalty to Britain while protesting

Delegates met in Philadelphia in 1774 to debate how to respond to British acts clamping down on trade and increasing taxes. The result of the congress was to call for the formation of colonial militias and to embargo British goods. Delegates also adopted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, though there was broad disagreement about how to respond to Britain’s policies.

Foreign policy and war defined Madison's presidency

During James Madison's presidency, disputes with Britain and France over trade, maritime rights, and impressment dominated foreign policy, culminating in the War of 1812 and shaping how the United States engaged with major European powers.

250 years of world trade history

Adam Smith's revolutionary ideas about free trade were often ignored throughout American history to protect domestic industry—until World War II caused a shift in sentiment about global trade.

The US has used a wide variety of different currencies between the 1690s and today

From colonial money to national banknotes, people have used all kinds of forms of currency throughout the history of the United States before settling on the dollar bills and quarters that we pay for things with today.

Hamilton created the First Bank of the United States

As Treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton proposed the First Bank of the United States to stabilize national finances—serving as the government's fiscal agent, managing debt, and expanding credit through a public-private banking model.

The causes of American rebellion were multifaceted

British taxes on colonists to pay for the French and Indian War were just one element. Thousands of miles of separation between London and the Colonies, expanding territories, a distinct Colonial identity, and political conflicts combined to prompt the Revolution.

John Marshall gained national prominence during the XYZ Affair

In 1797, President John Adams sent Marshall to France amid seizures of American ships. French intermediaries demanded loans and bribes before talks, and Marshall refused. Publication of the dispatches fueled the Quasi-War and elevated his reputation in the United States.

Benjamin Franklin founded America's first lending library, the Library Company of Philadelphia, in 1731.

That time British slavers killed enslaved people and filed for insurance reimbursement

In 1781, a British slave ship tossed 132 enslaved Africans overboard, leaving them to drown. This 52-minute podcast explores the context behind the massacre and its implications. The slavers of the ship named Zong sought insurance reimbursement for...

Hamilton learned about global trade before he was a teenager

Before he moved to America, Hamilton worked as a clerk around age 12 at the Caribbean trading firm Beekman and Cruger, handling shipping documents, inspections, and port logistics. He eventually managed the day-to-day operations of a trading charter that immersed him early in Atlantic commerce.

Tariffs are typically paid by the importing company or organization to the US treasury

Tariffs levied on foreign countries are typically paid by the importer upon arrival of goods—for example, if Walmart imported a $100 pair of shoes, they would pay the US treasury an additional $15 under a 15% tariff rate. The degree to which these costs are passed onto consumers depends on real-world business agreements.

Hamilton's tax on whiskey sparked the first armed rebellion against US federal authority

As Treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton designed an excise tax on whiskey that provoked violent resistance in western Pennsylvania. The Whiskey Rebellion ended when George Washington mobilized state militias under federal authority to enforce the law.

The Compromise of 1790 broke a deadlock over debt and the national capital

In 1790, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson reached an agreement that allowed Congress to assume the states' war debts and to approve a permanent national capital on the Potomac River.

Americans celebrated the end of the Revolutionary War with nationwide toasts

In 1783, citizens celebrated the signing of the Preliminary Articles of Peace with nationwide parties. Across the new country, many made 13 toasts to the 13 states. They also drank to George Washington. One poet in Boston wrote, “Health to his honor I’d freely drink, Had I a glass of wine; And whosoever with me shall think, May mix their toast with mine.”

The Americans abandoned Philadelphia to the British in 1777

While George Washington's army was encamped in Valley Forge, the British took over the capital of Philadelphia (and the colonies, at the time), including Ben Franklin's house. It wouldn't last long. This is one of a series of podcast episodes exploring the war's battles.

The final shots of the Civil War were fired in the Arctic over 2 months after the South's surrender.

The Declaration of Independence was not only a statement of principles but also an appeal for military allies that the struggling colonists needed to survive.

This article argues that the Declaration of Independence wasn't just a statement of separation from Britain. It was a strategic message aimed at France and Spain, designed to secure military support against the far stronger British Empire.

When the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War in 1783, British officials refused to pose for the portrait of the negotiations, leaving the painting partially unfinished.

Britain extracted nearly $45T from India during colonial rule

Between 1765 and 1938, Britain drained an estimated $45T in today’s dollars from India through taxes, resource extraction, and coerced trade—wealth that helped Britain’s economic rise while contributing to widespread poverty in the colony.

Hamilton built the foundations of the US financial system as the nation's first Treasury secretary

Appointed the nation's first Treasury secretary in 1789 by George Washington, Alexander Hamilton designed a powerful federal finance system—repaying war debts, creating new taxes, founding a national bank, and promoting economic development.

Slavery in the US: a timeline

In 1619, a ship with 20 captives landed at Point Comfort in Virginia, ushering in the era of American slavery. Scroll through this timeline to learn more about slavery in the US and its long lasting effects.

Jefferson feared European control in the West of North America

Jefferson pushed for the Louisiana Purchase to prevent France or Spain from dominating the western frontier, securing control of the Mississippi River and vast lands that he felt were essential to America’s strategic and economic future.

Read the financial advice America's founding fathers gave, including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton.

Colonial self-rule fostered strong autonomy and distrust of centralized power

American colonies were governed through a patchwork of different systems, ranging from Crown-run to locally controlled. Broad local autonomy—often followed by sudden imperial crackdowns—taught colonial leaders to prize home rule and distrust distant centralized power, attitudes that later informed US federalism.

Revenue from tariffs goes to the US Treasury’s general fund

That's also where federal income taxes go. Revenue from tariffs can be spent on almost anything the government needs, such as funding programs like Medicare or the military.

The 'Star-Spangled Banner' is based on a poem written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, while witnessing a battle during the War of 1812.