[2] The first version was authored by Representative Lewis D. Campbell and contained provisions only for an increased number of goods that could be imported without duties being leveed.
[2] After protests primarily from agricultural interests, Senator Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter introduced a new version of the bill, which in addition to removing duties from some imports decreased all tariffs by between 20% and 25%.
Its supporters included Democrats, Republicans, and Americans; representatives of northern merchants, manufacturers, and railroad interests; and spokesmen for southern farmers and planters.
Opposition came largely from two economic groups: the iron manufacturers of Pennsylvania and the wool growers of New England and the West.
"[2] When the Panic of 1857 struck later that year, protectionists, led by the economist Henry C. Carey, blamed the downturn on the new tariff.