In response to the publication of my book, The Real Lincoln, I’ve had quite a few letters from admirers of Pat Buchanan’s book, A Republic, Not An Empire, who tell me that they are persuaded by my argument that America began its transformation from a constitutional republic to an empire in 1865. But they disagree with my criticisms of the hyper-protectionist policies of Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party of the mid- and late nineteenth century. The letter writers seem to sincerely believe that protectionist policies that force Americans to “buy American” are not only patriotic, but good for the US economy.
These correspondents seem totally unaware of the truth that import quotas or tariffs can only, at best, “help” some Americans by harming other Americans. There is nothing inherently just or patriotic about that. Indeed, protectionism is the quintessential example of the kind of special-interest policy that James Madison railed against (“the violence of faction”) in his famous Federalist #10 essay. Judged by the standards of Madison, the “father” of the American Constitution, protectionism is patently un-American. It was always part and parcel of the corrupt European mercantilist system that so many of the American pilgrims fled from.
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