We are discussing the Billion Dollar Congress in my history class right now. I wrote a paper a few years ago about the history of federal debt, and my research said that the federal government has maintained some level of debt since the War of 1812. I got my data from the Congressional budget office. If the government was in debt, how could it also have a surplus? Were they using revenue from the McKinley Tariff to fund spending while leaving debt outstanding? If so, was this due to a discrepancy in the maturity of the bonds that made up the debt? My professor and I are endeavoring to reconcile our conflicting conclusions. Thoughts?