To augment the small U.S. Navy during the Quasi-War with France, private citizens funded the construction of well-designed and solidly built warships to protect American property at sea. The voluntary funding and admirable performance of these nine frigates and sloops-of-war calls into question the “public goods” rationale for coercive taxation for maritime defense.
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Larry J. Sechrest (1946–2008) was a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California, and a professor of economics at Sul Ross State University.
