Taxation in Colonial AmericaPrinceton University Press, 2015 M07 28 - 968 pages Taxation in Colonial America examines life in the thirteen original American colonies through the revealing lens of the taxes levied on and by the colonists. Spanning the turbulent years from the founding of the Jamestown settlement to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Alvin Rabushka provides the definitive history of taxation in the colonial era, and sets it against the backdrop of enormous economic, political, and social upheaval in the colonies and Europe. Rabushka shows how the colonists strove to minimize, avoid, and evade British and local taxation, and how they used tax incentives to foster settlement. He describes the systems of public finance they created to reduce taxation, and reveals how they gained control over taxes through elected representatives in colonial legislatures. Rabushka takes a comprehensive look at the external taxes imposed on the colonists by Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden, as well as internal direct taxes like poll and income taxes. He examines indirect taxes like duties and tonnage fees, as well as county and town taxes, church and education taxes, bounties, and other charges. He links the types and amounts of taxes with the means of payment--be it gold coins, agricultural commodities, wampum, or furs--and he compares tax systems and burdens among the colonies and with Britain. This book brings the colonial period to life in all its rich complexity, and shows how colonial attitudes toward taxation offer a unique window into the causes of the revolution. |
Contents
introduction | 1 |
The Middle Wave | 42 |
The Third Wave | 56 |
appendix List of Tax Incentives in Founding | 64 |
Taxation of the Middle Colonies 16241688 | 199 |
Taxation of the Southern Plantation Colonies 16071688 | 228 |
appendix Taxation in the American Colonies 1688 | 267 |
71 | 275 |
1 Exterior View Yorktown Customs House | 525 |
appendix Taxes in the American Colonies 1739 | 556 |
Appendix A Per Capita Taxes in the American | 557 |
the Colonial Constitution 17141739 | 563 |
Taxation of the New England Colonies 17391763 | 575 |
Taxation of the Middle Colonies 17391763 | 624 |
Taxation of the Southern Plantation Colonies 17391763 | 657 |
British Politics Imperial Governance and Colonial | 717 |
Constitutional | 301 |
Taxation of the New England Colonies 16881714 | 355 |
1 1690 Massachusetts Bill of Credit Five Shillings | 361 |
A 1702 Ratios of Sterling 54d and Colonial Legal Values | 396 |
Taxation of the Middle Colonies 16881714 | 399 |
Taxation of the Southern Plantation Colonies 16881714 | 416 |
appendix Tax Burdens in the American Colonies 1714 | 437 |
Appendix A Per Capita Taxes in the American | 438 |
Imperial Governance | 445 |
Taxes and Interest 17151738 | 473 |
A CrossRates of English Sterling and Colonial Currencies | 485 |
Taxation of the Middle Colonies 17141739 | 490 |
Taxation of the Southern Plantation Colonies | 519 |
1 Colonial America 1763 | 719 |
2 Obelisk Erected on the Boston Common in Celebration | 742 |
British Taxation of the American Colonies 17631775 | 749 |
Taxation of the New England Colonies 17631775 | 766 |
1 Currency Exchange Table 1775 | 767 |
Appendix A Composition of Taxes in Colonial | 787 |
Taxation of the Middle Colonies 17631775 | 797 |
Taxation of the Southern Plantation Colonies | 826 |
conclusion | 865 |
| 891 | |
| 915 | |