Taxation without Representation

Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason. ~Author Unknown

My newest commuting lecture series is “Cycles of American political thought” by Joseph Fiske Kobylka. Though the presentation is low key, the material is interesting and I’m learning many details of American History that I was completely unaware of. For example today’s CD described the significance of the French and Indian War of 1754–1763 as a precursor to the American Revolution.

I’m familiar with the French and Indian War mostly through Genealogy on my Austin family line that goes back to the early 1600’s in Dover, New Hampshire. Some of my ancestors fought in, or were kidnapped or killed in this War. Historian’s view this war as the North American extension of the Seven Year’s war in Europe between all the major powers of the day. But to some degree this war was inevitable. The French claimed ALL of central North America from New Orleans up the entire Mississippi River to all the Great Lakes and into Canada. The British held the American Eastern seacoast and recognized no western limit to their colonies. Both countries wanted the “Ohio land” between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River for the prosperous fur trade.

When the war began in 1754, seven of the colonies met in Albany, NY to discuss a mutual defense agreement. Benjamin Franklin presented the "Albany Plan" to unite the colonies "under one government as far as might be necessary for defense and other general important purposes". Franklin's plan was unanimously approved by the delegates but, when sent back to the colonial legislatures for ratification, every colony rejected it. They were proudly independent and proudly British. Yet only 22 years later the Declaration of Independence would be signed and the Albany Plan would became the foundation for the US Articles of Confederation. What had changed?

After ten years of fighting, the French lost nearly everything. They traded Canada to England in exchange for the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique and access to fishing in the Newfoundland Grand Banks region via the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. They gave up all territory East of the Mississippi. France gave Louisiana to their ally Spain in compensation for Spain losing Florida to the British.

The British emerged triumphant but debt ridden. The war in North America and Europe was expensive and now England had to administer and protect vast new territories. In 1764 King George III and British Parliament imposed new taxes upon the colonies to help reduce the debt. In America alone the cost of maintaining a standing army of ten thousand British regular troops was £200,000 annually. It only made sense that America, via the Sugar Act tax, should help by paying £78,000 per year for the soldiers that are protecting them. However the colonists didn’t agree for several reasons.

1. The Americans saw no further need for garrisons of local British soldiers. The French were gone and to appease various Indian tribes, England issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting colonists from engaging in further expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains. Within the newly confined territories of the original colonies, there were no enemies left to fight. Besides the war had taught the colonists how to fight and trained a generation of military men (like George Washington) so if there were an Indian skirmish, the colonist could now handle it.
2. New Englanders felt that the tax was too high. The region had done well during the war (by providing soldiers with food and supplies) but fell into a recession after the war. Local merchants & brewers blamed the Sugar tax for making the Rum business unprofitable.
3. Massachusetts Samuel Adams protested the dangers of taxation without representation:
   
   "For if our Trade may be taxed, why not our Lands? Why not the Produce of our Lands & everything we possess or make use of? This we apprehend annihilates our Charter Right to govern & tax ourselves. It strikes at our British privileges, which as we have never forfeited them, we hold in common with our Fellow Subjects who are Natives of Britain. If Taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our having a legal Representation where they are laid, are we not reduced from the Character of free Subjects to the miserable State of tributary Slaves?"

Because of colonial protests and boycotts, British Parliament repealed the Sugar Act after just one year. But they replaced it in 1765 with a new tax on all paper goods called the Stamp Act which was even more unpopular. This led to more protests, some violent, more boycotts and more politics about colonial rights. The Stamp Act was repealed but replaced by the Townshend Acts in 1767. The Townshend was repealed in 1770 (after the Boston Massacre) except for tea! The Tea Act of 1773 resulted in the famous Boston Tea Party and eventually to the Battle of Concord and Lexington.

Bottom Line

As America is embracing new levels of debt on a gigantic scale, it’s useful to look at a time two centuries ago when a debt-ridden England tried to pay off its debt with the help of "Americans". The Tea Parties we see today are a modern day reflection of “taxation without representation”. With jerrymandered congressional districts and people blindly voting along party lines, most elected officials are guaranteed reelection regardless of what they do in office. Bribery, tax cheats, drug arrests, doesn’t matter! The Tea Parties are an attempt to catch the ear of politicians and say, “Hey, we object to massive bailouts and gifts to friends of Democrats, big donors and to companies with the best lobbyists. Represent the taxpayers instead!”. Sadly most politicians are not listening.