A tariff is a tax. Taxes involve money, and money is what makes the world go 'round.

It's as true in history as it is today. In fact, a big reason for Cuba being right smack in the middle of the Spanish-American War was taxes.

What was being taxed? Sweet, sweet sugar. Cuba had lots of it, and America (and Spain) wanted it. (That's a big reason Hawaii was taken by the U.S. as well: sugar.) The Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act in 1894, right before the war, created a very high tax on sugar, which crippled Cuba's sugar-reliant economy.

Wait a minute. If the U.S. wanted sugar from Cuba, why would they put a high tax on it? Good question. Maybe the U.S. was trying to hurt Cuba on purpose, since Spain owned it at the time. Maybe by crippling Cuba's economy, the U.S. could more easily take over Cuba and gain control over all the sugar plantations. After all, we know that the Platt Amendment is going to come along and give America free rein of any Cuban land.

(Such scheming by Congress!)

Or, perhaps it was because Spain had high taxes on Cuba's sugar too, and America's tax could push Cuba over the edge and cause them to revolt against Spain. Which is exactly what happened…and the result was sugary sweet (pun intended) for the U.S.