The History of Taxation

Charles Adams is a rare tax historian who leads us back to Greeks and Romans and the history of liberty. The Battle of Marathon was critical for Greek civilization to seize control of Western Civilization. The Greeks had no direct taxation, just indirect. This is what fostered liberty.

Romans destroyed liberty just in order to make their tax system work. Tax systems became spy systems, destroying liberty. The nation became the prison. Americans have gone through many anti-tax revolutions. An income tax – a direct tax- is despotic. Any taxation is an evil. In 1775, Burke wrote that the fierce notion of liberty is stronger in the colonies than anywhere and it centered on taxes. We lost this attitude through the seduction of socialism. The history of tax is the history of liberty.

In 1894 the US passed the first income tax law. It was ruled an unconstitutional direct tax. The 16th Amendment permitted the tax. If the Greeks were right, our liberty is in trouble.

From the 2001 History of Liberty seminar.