Daniel Raymond
Daniel Fitch Raymond (1786-1849) represents the first American economist and first American Protectionist to produce a systematic treatise which dealt systematically and comprehensively with economic theory. Indeed, Raymond himself even declared that prior to the publication of his work, “the only American book that [had] the semblance of a treatise on political economy [was] Hamilton's reports as Secretary of the Treasury.” Daniel Raymond was born on September 12, 1786, in Monteville, Connecticut. He studied law at Tapping Reeve’s Law School in Litchfield, before moving to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1814, where he commenced his law practice. Raymond first entered the public spotlight in 1819, with the publication of his controversial pamphlet, The Missouri Question. The question of Missouri’s admission into the Union was a divisive issue at the time. If admitted, Missouri would represent the first state located west of the Mississippi River to allow slavery, and such a situation would upset the Congressional balance between Northern Free States and Southern Slave States. Although Raymond considered blacks to be inferior to whites, in The Missouri Question, Raymond advocated the gradual manumission of slaves.
Raymond’s most important work would appear the following year in 1820. This was his Thoughts on Political Economy (1820), and it proved quite popular within certain intellectual and protectionist circles. President John Adam gave the work high praise, considering it “a proud monument of American literature.” Frederick Beasley, provost of the University of Pennsylvania, commended Raymond as having a “profound comprehension of his subject” which he presented with “such neatness and perspicuity of style.” The work also caught the eye of the two Protectionist publishers, Hezekiah Niles and Mathew Carey. In review of Raymond’s work, Niles would write that “we recommend it to the consideration of those who are desirous of information on this important subject,” describing it “as well worthy of an attentive perusal.” By far the most enthusiastic reader of the work, however, was Mathew Carey, who declared “Raymond’s political economy” to be “a work far superior to either” Smith’s “Wealth of Nations and Say’s Political Economy,” and praising it as “a valuable work, containing more sound practical truths than I have ever seen in any book on the subject.” Indeed, Mathew Carey was so impressed that he attempted to establish and fund a Chair of Political Economy for Raymond at the University of Maryland, but the proposal was subsequently rejected by the University.
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Raymond’s Political Economy would go through several considerably revised editions. The second edition would appear in 1823 under the title Elements of Political Economy. This was greatly enlarged and would now occupy two volumes. In 1836, a third edition would be published under the same title, with some further additions, including a chapter on the United States Constitution, which emphasized the constitutionality of the protective system, and an additional appendix on the tariff. A fourth edition would then appear in 1840, now under the title Elements of Political Economy and Constitutional Law. As the names suggests, Raymond added some additional chapters on constitutional law, but he would also condense the sections on political economy which featured in the earlier editions. Later in 1845, Raymond would expand upon the chapters relating to constitutional law and would publish them as a separate publication entitled Elements of Constitutional Law. Raymond would also produce two other important works. The first of these would be his 1828 pamphlet The American System, which, as the names suggests, provides a defense of Clay’s American System. His other, and seemingly his final work, was his article which appeared in the American Whig Review in 1848. This article was entitled The President’s Message, and the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, which provides a critique of Robert J. Walker’s 1845 Treasury Report.
The details surrounding Raymond’s later life are subject to some speculation, but it appears that in 1842, Raymond would relocate to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he would establish the political newspaper, the Western Statesmen, in addition to conducting a not too successful law practice. The Western Statesmen also struggled and seems to have only produced around sixteen issues before it failed, although the exact number is unknown. On July 13, 1849, Daniel Raymond would die in Cincinnati, Ohio, after contracting cholera during an outbreak in the city.