On Dec. 16th 1773, a group of people disguised as Mohawk Indians erupted in violence in Boston harbor launching what would become known as the Boston Tea Party. The Sons of Liberty in Boston declared their distaste for the tea taxes in undeniable terms by dumping a load of tea being imported to the new world by the East India Company into the waters of Boston harbor in an action that the Massachusetts Tory, Daniel Leonard, called, "a more unaccountable phrenzy, and more disgraceful to the annals of America, than that of the witchcraft".(4)

This was not the only "tea party" either. Tea destruction was also undertaken at Greenwich, New Jersey; in November of 1774, seven tea chests were cast into the Cooper River at Charleston, S.C. and an entire ship and its cargo was burned near Annapolis, Maryland. Even New York had its trouble. At the same time that the Boston "Indians" were tossing loads of tea in the harbor, New York governor Tryon, who made a name for himself as the man who tamed the North Carolina Regulators, was confident that he would be able to shove the tea down the throats of the Sons of Liberty.(5) Yet, even as he tried to land his supply of tea ashore, as per his instructions from the crown, the citizens refused to allow him to do so. The only thing that stopped another tea party right there was the governor's desire not to cause an uprising on his watch. Still, in March of 1774, New York "Mohawks" reprised the Bostonians efforts and destroyed a tea shipment by throwing it into the harbor.

These "tea parties" precipitated the series of conflicts that would culminate in the American Revolution. A revolution as grounded in a distaste of taxes as in a desire for a new way of governing people based on the principles of God given freedoms and rights or the philosophical concepts of common sense. So, after years of bitter conflict and much expense in lives and treasure for both England and the American rebels, the crown admitted defeat and allowed the new world to go it's own way. It seemed that the Colonists had gotten their way and now they came upon their most annoying dilemma yet. What do they do about levying taxes themselves upon their own, new countrymen? After all, didn't they claim that the weight of unfair taxes is what sent them to the battlefields of the Revolution in the first place? But how could they operate their own government without the funds necessary to do so? A dilemma that took a long time in solving.

As the new American government struggled to organize, it became increasingly clear that the Articles of Confederation were not powerful enough to supplement a strong government. The founding Fathers began to write the new ground work for an American system of governing; the Constitution. But before this occurred they experienced a little tax revolt of their own. It was called Shays' Rebellion. Led by a Massachusetts man named Daniel Shays, a veteran of the war against England, the people in the state of Massachusetts became upset when the state had increased taxes to a high level to begin to pay the debts of the revolution. Armed only with pitchforks and farming implements, the mob, led by Mr. Shays, tried to seize a federal arsenal to break out more deadly weapons. A few volleys of the cannons at the arsenal cooled their ardor, however, and the "rebellion" was put down.

Section 8, a. of the Constitution says that the collection of taxes must be uniform throughout the United States (my emphasis added). The word uniform fully explains the desires of the founders that taxes be distributed fairly and equally upon the people of the country and is key to the Federal powers to tax. It is this section that has been misused since the beginning by that same Federal government, unfortunately.

After the Constitution was ratified, many of the states not entirely pleased with the document, it was during the presidency of George Washington that the country experienced yet another tax revolt. Alexander Hamilton, who had become the Secretary of the Treasury in Washington's cabinet, persuaded Congress to levy a tax on whiskey to help pay the war debt. Many farmers used the whiskey they distilled from gain as barter for products they could not get otherwise. The cash tax became onerous upon people who had little hard currency with which to pay such a tax but relied upon a barter system for their livelihoods. In a repeat of pre-revolutionary actions tax men were tarred and feathered and run out of town, all over again.

Washington raised up a militia army from four states and rode as far as Bedford, Pennsylvania to put down the Whiskey rebellion and restore order and the powers of the Federal government to collect taxes. Washington then pardoned the leaders of the rebellion, people who many wanted hanged as traitors, and ended the uprising. For a time the tax stayed on the books but, as Washington and then Adams left office and Thomas Jefferson ascended to the president's post he repealed the tax on whiskey. Once again, a tax revolt led to the abolition of the hated tax. Additionally, the leaders of the revolt were pardoned for their actions causing folks to wonder about just how serious the government took the levying of taxes.

One other small rebellion in Pennsylvania, called the Fries rebellion, took place during JohnAdams' term in office. When these taxes were levied upon the people it took the form of a direct tax on land, houses and slaves. However, the question became just how do you determine the tax on a home? The idea of assessing a tax on each home based on its number of windows and doors was then conceived.

However, the solution did not sit well with the German community in Pennsylvania. As the tax assessors began to fan out across the state they expectedly became subjected to the harassment that was becoming an American tradition of sorts. When the authorities arrested some of the people who attacked the tax men a citizen named John Fries organized a mob and freed them from the jail. Fries was arrested and charged with treason. No less than Alexander Hamilton was a chief advocate of hanging Mr. Fries.

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