Before 1873, the doctrine of tithing in America wasn't that popular. People supported their ministers the best they could, with freewill offerings. That it is in part the work of the puritans, pilgrims, quakers, and other groups in American strong rejection of the doctrine.
However, the doctrine of tithing began to be "rediscovered".
1873, Alexander Hogshead, published a book called, "The Gospel self-supporting", advocating for a minimum of 10% giving, saying it was an eternal principle. At the same time, A.W. Miller published his work also saying that the early church fathers supported tithing and we needed to practice it. Finally, in 1875, Speer also published a book saying tithing is also a progressive revelation that we all must practice.
But what really caused the fire to start in the USA was Thomas "Layman" Kane in 1876[1]. He was a Presbyterian businessman. He wrote a pamphlet about tithing, and sent it to 75% of the evangelical ministers in the USA for free. He bombarded them with the unsolicited material for years.
His pamphlets were effective enough to cause a "rediscovery" of tithing, and a movement in the clergy to impose it on the congregations.
When tithing hit the Pentecostal movement, it came from ministers already persuaded from the work of these people. And main argument to introduce it to the congregations was: "We don't really need the money, but we don't want you to miss a blessing (prosperity) that tithing brings". So it was a prosperity argument, and in America, who doesn't want to prosper and be rich?
Basically, the theological "foundation" was the work of Hogshead and Miller, and the promoting hand was Thomas.
Finally, in 1906, Henry Lansdell wrote a two volume work called "The Sacred Tenth" that does a very lengthy historical investigation trying to show that 1/10 was a common tax or expected contribution in several cultures, and coming to the conclusion that it must have been some sort of divine number from the times right after the flood. I have a better explanation: ancient time practicality, we got 10 fingers, which makes it easier to count what you are due to the King/Priest. In fact, the Bible in
1Sam 8:15-17, tithing is presented negatively, like something a King would do over Israel, demonstrating that this was just a practical number for the ancient cultures.
Interesting findings.
1.
https://www.tithereview.com/blog/pic...aught-millions