America had won the Revolutionary War and although they had fought for their Independence, the battle to build a country was far from over. Constitutions were being drafted and turned down, laws were being passed and constantly changed. It was taking a while to get everyone on the same page. President George Washington appointed Alexander Hamilton as the first Secretary of Treasury. While also being one of the leading architects of the newly designed government Hamilton was also responsible for managing the national debt and the cost of running a government was on his shoulders. Among several things he enacted to gain revenue for the country was the creation of the Revenue-Marine or the U.S. Coast Guard, as it is known today.
             Although Alexander Hamilton wanted America to become self sufficient in the area of manufacturing, He did support high tariffs that would result in the exclusion of foreign products. Instead he imposed moderate tariffs that would gain revenue. (Henretta) With so much maritime merchant trade coming in and out of Americas ports the moderate trade tariffs where starting to pay off. However, just as with any fee or tax there will be people that would try to find their way around them. Traders or smugglers would try and find another way to get their goods into America tariff free. The only people collecting tariffs were the customs collectors waiting on shore for the ships arrival into ports, and with the Disestablishment of the Navy after the revolutionary war there were no armed federal ships patrolling Americas coast looking for these smuggler enforcing maritime or customs laws. You could probably imagine how a smart yet dishonest captain could easily figure out a way to bypass these tariff laws. Hamilton had realized this dilemma and also realized that something had to be done to correct it.
             In 1789 Alexander Hamilton had a plan to utilize ships to go out and enforce revenue laws and hold smugglers account...