Today in History

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A Britannica Newsletter

Today in History

August 4, 2026

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The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities

The Creation of the U.S. Coast Guard

August 4, 1790

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On this day in 1790, George Washington signed the law creating the Revenue Marine. The fleet of 10 boats would eventually evolve into the modern-day U.S. Coast Guard.

The idea was the brainchild of none other than Alexander Hamilton.

As the first secretary of the treasury of the newly created government of the United States, Hamilton believed that the country needed a maritime law enforcement fleet to collect tariffs and intercept smugglers.

He was not trying to build a navy; he was trying to collect taxes. The fledgling country needed money to operate that strong central government he’d championed, and taxes were the most obvious way to raise it. Stiff duties were promptly imposed on foreign goods.

The problem was that it was all too easy for tariff dodgers to choose an unstaffed port of entry and avoid paying. Hamilton’s solution was a fleet of 10 cutters—small, fast, maneuverable boats—that could patrol the coastline and intercept ships trying to skirt the law.

Hamilton’s handprints were all over the project from conception to launch. Each cutter was required to be built domestically, and each was equipped with specific weapons and equipment, down to the same number of inches of cloth for its sails.

He also set up a financial incentive for the crews. They received a share of the proceeds from confiscated cargo, which surely didn’t hurt as inspiration for chasing smugglers.

The Navy had been disbanded after the American Revolution, so the cutter service was the only armed maritime service in the country for nearly a decade (until the Navy was reestablished in 1798).

Once the boats were built and put into service by 1791, they quickly became indispensable for more than just taxation: Crews patrolled local waterways, defended against pirates, rescued people in distress, enforced federal laws, and later served alongside the Navy during wartime.

Many of those missions are still entrusted to the U.S. Coast Guard, which was officially established in 1915. Leave it to Hamilton to design a lifesaving service that began as a floating tax enforcement agency—and outlived him by more than two centuries.

Today’s edition of Today in History was written by Michele Metych.

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What Else Did Alexander Hamilton Create? →

More About the U.S. Coast Guard →

The Duel We Know You’re Thinking Of →

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fun fact

Alexander Hamilton’s first domestic tax was on whiskey. His critics joked that it was because he couldn’t hold his liquor.

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by the numbers

Swivel guns on each original cutter

243

U.S. Coast Guard cutters (as of 2018)

4 oz

Cheese included three days a week in rations of sailors on the cutters

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ALSO ON This DaY

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1902

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The Greenwich Tunnel opens beneath the River Thames

Image: Retouch UK/Alamy

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1944

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Anne Frank’s hiding place is discovered by the Gestapo

Image: Alpha Historica/Alamy

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2007

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The U.S. space probe Phoenix launches

Image: Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA

MORE ON THIS DAY

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famous birthdays

1900

Elizabeth

Queen consort of the United Kingdom

1961

Barack Obama

First African American president of the United States

1962

Lori Lightfoot

First African American woman and first openly gay mayor of Chicago

1981

Meghan, duchess of Sussex

American British actress and consort of Prince Harry

MORE BIOGRAPHIES

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History’s Biggest Headlines

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