A Statement of Purpose
The protective tariff built American industry. It is the only policy that can rebuild it.
The American Protective Tariff League was founded in 1885 to defend the protective system established by Washington, advanced by Hamilton, codified by Clay, and consummated by Lincoln. The system that built the most productive economy in the history of the world was abandoned over the second half of the twentieth century. The consequences are now plain. The League was reestablished in 2026 to restate first principles, to recover the documentary record of the American School, and to support the present effort to restore the protective system as the governing policy of the republic.
We hold that the wealth of a nation is its productive capacity, that protection is the proper instrument of national development, and that the home market is the foundation of national independence. These are not novel claims. They are the doctrines on which the American republic was built.
The Library
Browse all 3,081 records →A federated archive of the documentary record of American protectionism. 3,081 records spanning 1800–1958, drawn from the publications of the named protectionist organizations of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and from the broader American School literature. 2,430 records currently retrievable as full text.
Republished Canon
The American School in print again
The League is reissuing the foundational works of the American School in modern editions. Carey, List, Raymond, and Peshine Smith, with new introductions framing each work for the present moment.
Daily Commentary
Tariff Times
Editorial commentary on the trade question, the industrial base, and the politics of the protective system. Published every weekday.