W. Marc Gilfillan, CPA, NC, individual and business CPA and Tax expert, shares about the history of taxes…
“Slavery - the one cause of the Civil War.” - John Stuart Mill, 1862
Could there be a doubt about it? Certainly the American Civil War was about slavery… wasn’t it? Well actually, one of the most hoaxes in American history is that the Civil War began over the slavery issue and that Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, used a terrible war to sever the claims of bondage that enslaved over 3 million black Americans. Just prior to the war, the South had everything its way.
In 1860, the South controlled the Supreme Court and Lincoln and Congress were approving a constitutional amendment to protect slavery for all time! What happened?
We should rewind the time back to the year 1832. By 1832 the national debt from the War of 1812 had been re-paid and Southerners saw no need to keep up the high import taxes which appeared to only raise price tags for the South’s consumers. Either the South had to pay high import taxes on foreign goods or it purchased Northern manufactured goods at terribly overpriced prices. In either case, Southern funds transferred to the North. To say the least, the South was not happy with this arrangement. If you’re feeling the pressure with today’s taxes, call a CPA for Tax Preparation in Raleigh, NC for all your tax-related needs!
So, in 1832 a convention was held in South Carolina to nullify these federal import taxes. The convention decided the tax was unconstitutional and authorized the governor to defy the enforcement of the import taxes instituted by the federal government. It looked like a civil war was in the works. Cool heads prevailed, however, and the Great Compromise of 1833 reduced import taxes over the subsequent few years to levels the South would tolerate. Go here if you want help with a modern-day Tax Return in Raleigh, NC.
Over the next few years, however, Northern commercial and manufacturer companies forced into Congress new taxes that again stressed Southern planters and made Northern manufacturers become rich. In 1850, John C. Calhoun, the South’s most exceptional spokesperson, gave a speech to Congress. His speech spoke of three wrongs done to the South that could cause secession from the Union and war. The first two had to do with fears concerning the erosion of power of the South in general and the the power of state government as well.
The third, and really the only concrete complaint, concerned tax policy. In Calhoun’s eyes, national import taxes was a class legislation against the South. Huge amounts of taxes on the South created funds that were spent in the North. The center of economic life in the United States was steadily changing heavily to the North. Calhoun spoke of secession if the taxes were not reduced. But what of the slavery issue? Well, during his campaign for the presidency in 1860, Lincoln repeatedly said he would not do anything about slavery in the South. Actually, most Northerners did not care much about black men in bondage, any more than they worried about the Native-American in the West or impoverished uneducated workers in factories. By and large many black slaves got better treatment and more compassion than their counterparts in the North. Lincoln, in fact, promised Southern slave-owners that fugitive slaves would be caught. The Congress and then the Supreme Court (Dred Scott decision) further affirmed that slavery was here to stay.
However, just as Lincoln was elected and Congress came together in 1861, they created more high import tariffs. Slavery wasn’t an issue - higher import taxes were. In his inaugural address Lincoln said he would collect the customs in the South even if there happened to be a secession!
Fort Sumter, near the beginning of the Charleston Harbor, started to fill with Union troops to enforce the collection of the new taxes. The Civil War began in 1861 when South Carolinians shot at the federal garrison at Fort Sumter. The conflict had been stewing for years - but it wasn’t about the slaves. It was over tax policy.
2 years after that, Lincoln put into action the Emancipation Proclamation, and then only following repeated military defeats, as a last resort to rally the North behind a worthwhile cause. With respect to the slave issue - the majority of the North did not care much about black people in bondage, no more than they thought about Indians in the west or poor illiterate workers in the factories. For the most part, most black slaves got better treatment and greater compassion than their impoverished counterparts in the North.
That’s it for the History of Taxes Series!
http://www.marccpa.com/