How Does Hamilton Justify Taxes

In 1791, Treasurer Alexander Hamilton proposed the First Bank of the United States, also called the First Bank, which, with the necessary-and-proper clause, allowed the government to act on the four rights stated in the Constitution: “the rights to collect taxes, borrow money, regulate trade among states, and support fleets and armies.” The charter of the First Bank caused a debate that Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, a large opponent of a central banking system, later described as “the most bitter and angry contest ever known in Congress before or since the union of the states.” The intensity of it is conveyed in “Cabinet Battle #1” in Hamilton: An American Musical, in which the debate between Hamilton and Jefferson is recreated in

Hamilton’s understanding of a successful economy allowed him to make decisions that would benefit the country. As discussed in source one, Alexander Hamilton created a uniform currency and an economic plan that would assume state debts and make them federal debts. From there on, he created a national bank; in source three Hamilton states, “...[The Democratic Republicans] were determined to oppose the banking system, which would ruin the credit and honor of the Nation”, as he clearly has the nation’s best interest at heart. The Democratic Republican feared corruption, but they overlooked that their rights are protected in the Constitution and that their

The British government was not looking for the best of the people. They were only thinking about what they wanted; the government was not interested in what the people wanted so they decided to make decisions on their own, which resulted in changes that form the United States today. Because of this, they were justified in rebelling and declaring independence.

Hamilton also very strongly pushed for the creation of a nation currency. According to ushistory.org Alexander Hamilton: “proposed a Bank of the United States… [Hamilton believed that] a central bank would help make the new nation’s economy dynamic through a more stable paper currency.” Hamilton’s economic policies were revolutionary for there time, and he enabled America to become the world power it is today.

The French and Indian War left England with a debt of £130,000,000. To help pay off the debt Britain set up taxes, to collect money, on frequently used products by the colonists. The Molasses Act put a six pence tax on every gallon of molasses. The colonists thought this was a lot of money to pay so they did everything to avoid it. This act was not really enforced and the colonists did not really obey this act. Britain needed a way to fix this. They came up with the Sugar Act, a set of taxes to help Britain raise money. Taxes were not a new thing for the colonists, but these new taxes caused big issues.

In 1765 March 22, The Stamp Act began. It was when American colonists were taxed on any kind of paper product. Such as ship’s paper, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. All of the money that was taxed was used to pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachians Mountains. Although this act was unpopular among the colonists. Later on the colonists started to protest against paying taxes on paper products. The tax collectors were threatened and were almost forced to quit their jobs. The colonists that protested burned the stamps on the streets to show their aggression toward the tax collectors. Overall the colonists were not very happy with this “new

In the late 1800s, the U.S Treasury Department used sales tax and tariffs to fund its federal budget. A tax or tariffs are funds that are paid to the government that are added when something is bought that is considered valuable. Because of the Civil war, there was a financial burden on the country. In 1861, Congress reacted by implementing taxes on individuals. The first income tax started off by taxing individuals 3% making more than $800, while people who made more than that gave up a larger percentage. (1)This taxation period only lasted a couple of years and ended in 1872. In 1894, Congress re-authorized the income tax by taxing people 2% who earned more than $4000. (2)This caused a lot of controversy because some believed it was unconstitutional.

Due to this preconceived North Carolinian sentiment, it is no surprise that the state’s General Assembly instructed North Carolina’s two U.S. senators, Benjamin Hawkins and Samuel Johnston, to oppose all excise taxes in December of 1790. As Hamilton continued to lobby for his excise bill to pass in the House in early 1791, Congressman John Sevier was openly dismissive of the bill, claiming that the tax would be unenforceable in North Carolina’s westernmost counties due to their remoteness. He even went so far as to candidly claim, “should the excise bill be passed, we shall derive great benefits from it; (proviso) we can keep clear ourselves, as it would have a direct tendency to encourage emigration into our country, and enable us to sell the production of our own distilleries, lower than our neighbours [sic].” Sevier was so strong in his belief that the tax would be unenforceable, that he believed that the lack of enforcement would encourage emigration to North Carolina and allow Tar Heel distillers to sell their goods at cheaper rates than their neighboring

I remember the night very clearly. I was ten years old the night my dad came home complaining about a new act that King George had passed. This act was called the Stamp Act. Little did we know at the time that this act would lead to many things. He said that they were making us pay for a stamp for every single piece of paper we bought. This included the newspaper, wills, deeds, pamphlets and even playing cards. The colonists did not want to pay the tax, not because of the money that they had to pay but because they had to pay for a war that they were not involved in. He said the reason we had to do this is because Britain was in great debt from the war with France. Since we benefited from the war the British government decided that we should

The Whiskey Rebellion was one of the first accomplishment over a period of time taken to get the United States out of debt after the Revolution. (Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History) states that “Life on the western frontier was very difficult during this period; much of the area was simultaneously claimed by both Great Britain and Spain, and settlers were also threatened by Indian wars”. The Whiskey Rebellion was caused by Alexander Hamilton who convinced congress to pass a tax on the farmers main crop Whiskey! Hamilton’s intention was to help compile the power of the new government along with bringing down the national dept. The Whiskey Rebellion has showed how the new constitution could be strong.

The continental congress led the king to heavily taxing items. The reaction to the colonist was beyond angry. When the king started to tax the items, the people wanted to rebel. This led to the declaration of independence.

After the Constitution was ratified in 1787 and George Washington was elected as President in 1789, Hamilton was appointed as his Secretary of the Treasury, making him the first to hold the position. This put him in charge of the economic and financial stability of a nation which was facing massive war debts and had little to no connected federal infrastructure in either areas. He was not cowed by this, however, and used the leeway the Constitution provided in regards to his powers and his political connections to his advantage in passing the programs and laws he wanted to put in place.

Hamilton believed that wealthy Americans would provide political support to the government and his plan in general would help pay off the debt to merchants who they owed most of their debt to. However, the debt would have to be paid by through taxes by the American people. Hamilton thought money and wealthy Americans would solve all of their problems concerning debt, and that in result would secure the government. Unfortunately, most Americans were not the wealthy

During the 1700s, the British Parliament used their authority to make laws regarding tax collection. One of these was the Molasses Act of 1733, but it did not work well. This was because the tax was not collected and people refused to pay it. During King George the third rule the Sugar Act, which was passed on April 5, 1764, replaced the Molasses Act. The background, purpose, and effect of the Sugar Act must be explained to understand the economic impact on the American colonies.

Document A: The Rhode Island Assembly wrote a letter to the Congress, addressing them that they don’t agree with placing taxes on imported goods. The Congress wanted to place taxes on imported goods as a source of income, but first, all of the states had to agree with this. This was around the time when the Articles of Confederation were ratified. Their central government was based on the Articles of Confederation; yet, they had weaknesses in some areas. Taxing was one of their weaknesses. The Congress didn’t have the power to enforce taxes on imported goods, so they discussed it with the states. Rhode Island didn’t agree with putting taxes on imported goods, and therefore, the congress wasn’t allowed to do it. In the letter, the Rhode Island Assembly proves that this tax is contrary to the constitution, and thus, it shouldn’t be