The Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894 (also called the Income Tax Act of 1894) was a bill passed by Congress that reduced the Tariffs on certain imports into the United States. The final version lowered duties slightly, but added a number of other provisions. One of these was a 2% federal income tax. Other items such as coal, lumber, and wool were added to the duty-free list, while sugar was removed from the duty-free list (where it had been included as a result of the McKinley Tariff of 1890). Debates over tariffs had been going on since America became a country. As the US became increasingly industrialized, the debates became more heated. The act was an effort by Democrats to help the country recover from the Panic of 1893, a serious economic depression. It tried to accomplish this by lowering tariffs and making up for the loss of revenues by a federal income tax. They believed if the US lowered tariffs other countries would also. They also believed they could push through a direct tax on personal income. The act failed to achieve any of its goals. A year later it was repealed by the Supreme Court decision "Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co" as being unconstitutional. Indirectly, the tariff was a contributing cause to the Spanish–American War.