Robert Morris Power To Tax

And the last power that the constitution prohibits from states is that the states are not allowed to tax on any goods coming in and out of the U.S.. Once again the states would have to much power and this is already a national government job.

Thesis: The constitutional government formed after the Revolutionary War made laws that limited the southern state’s ability to expand without slavery that they could not be economically successful. Argument 1: The government that formed after the revolutionary war lead to the inequality of the laws that it passed to govern the individual states. In 1787, the amended Constitution shift the power of individual states to a national government. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress depended on the good faith of the individual states. The new Constitution granted the national legislature’s power to impose tariffs, along with the flexibility to collect.

The first issue was Congresses inability to raise or levy taxes. The states were the only ones responsible for tax control. This led to Congress having no money of their own, and relying on the aid of states for funds. This was such a problem, due to the remaining debt from the American Revolutionary War. A new country cannot survive without a strong national government,

It provided requirements and process for a territory to become a state and join the United States, which the Constitution of 1787 also adopt. However the central government under the Articles was not given the power to collect tax or to regulate interstate commence. The states were expected to give tax on a voluntary basis, which worked poorly as the whole country was enduring financial hardship after the war. The states often have little money to offer to the tax-collecting officers and there was coercive measures that the federal government could use. The lack of fund in turn made the government powerless and lost authority, for the inability to pay foreign war debt greatly compromised the country’s credit overseas.

This was proven in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, etc. to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general warfare of the United States.” Congress may now also take the property of anyone in the states, which demonstrated to them that the national government would never be as responsive or compassionate as a state government.

The Articles deprived the federal government of several governmental powers essential to the operation of a freestanding republic. One immense issue stemming from the Articles was the national government’s inability to impose taxes on the states directly, which Americans believed to disturb state liberty and sovereignty (Document A). This restriction of power had its roots in the imperial days of Great Britain as one of the primary issues of the American Revolution, England’s taxation of the colonies without the proper representation of the colonists in Parliament. The fear of the new American government taking advantage of its power and imposing internal taxes on the states resulted in this law. Unfortunately, the framers did not think of the consequence, the incapability of the federal government to fund its finances or pay back its numerous debts. They were instead forced to rely predominantly on state donations, which proved to an extremely ineffective way to pay for government expenses. Not only could the government not pay for its expenditures, it

The federal government began to gain power, and in Article I section 8 says, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts and provide the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imports and excises shall be uniform through the United States; to borrow money on the credit of the United Staes; to regulate commerce with foreign nation, and among the several states, and with the Indians Tribes… to establish post offices and post roads .” The following quote describes how the national government has different kinds of power compared to federal government. Article IV section 1 says, “full faith and credit shall be given in each states to the public acts, records, and judicial proceeding of every other state. And the Congress may general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved… ” In simpler words, the state government has to follow laws just like a ordinary

The second major concern of the Anti-Federalists was the power of Congress. It worried the Anti-Federalists a great deal that the Constitution would grant Congress the power to tax in "necessary and proper" circumstances (Main 122). Not only could Congress pass new taxes without the consent of the people or state governments, the Anti-Federalist also felt that the Congress would have control over the judiciary branch. If Congress had influence over the judicial system, what recourse would the state have against unfair legislation?

Unfortunately for the National Government, Congress did not have any power to collect taxes from people in each individual state. The Congress could ask for money, but could not by any mean force states to pay them. The National Government greatly needed money to cover expenses and debts. Congress could not pay the Nation’s debt, which meant they could not provide much needed

When the Founding Fathers resisted these taxes on principle that Parliament did not have the authority to tax the colonists, Britain attacked and minimized colonial self-rule , declared colonists subject to any act of Parliament , reestablished internal taxes , closed colonial ports, dissolved

On the other hand, the states bordering the frontier wanted to control as much land as they could. Eventually the states agreed to give control of all western lands to the federal government, paving the way for final ratification of the articles on March 1, 1781 (). There was no independent executive and no veto of legislation. “Judicial proceedings in each state were to be honored by all other states. The federal government had no judicial branch, and the only judicial authority Congress had was the power to arbitrate disputes between states. Congress was denied the power to levy taxes; the new federal government was financed by donations from the states based on the value of each state's lands” ().

“When it came to levying taxes the Articles stated Congress could request states to pay taxes. The Constitution states Congress has the right to levy taxes on individuals” (Feldmeth, Greg D. "U.S. History Resources" http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html (31 March 1998). “A federal court the Articles

Before the colonies became states they had a few issues. They had a statement that said “no taxation without representation” this means that they believed that the parliament could not tax them and that only their own government could tax them. After the French and Indian war, the British had a really bad debt from the war and they were already having everyone in England pay enough so they decided that they were going to tax the colonists. The first thing they passed was a law called the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act taxed anything that was printed that included legal documents, bills of sale, calendars, pamphlets, contracts, ships papers, donations, diplomas, certificates (including marriage), Any kind of decelerations, official documents, advertisements in papers, licenses including liquor, playing

The tax started off as a 3 percent tax on income between $600 and $10,000, along with a 5 percent tax on income more than $10,000. It wasn’t until 1868 when the taxes were finally changed again. With the war over, the economy did not need so much money poured into it anymore. The country went back to generating the majority of revenue from alcohol and tobacco taxes. (“Historical Highlights of the IRS” IRS.gov)

Through much of the United States of America’s early history, there was no tax assessed on personal income. Because our nation was formed following a rebellion against England for “taxation without representation”, the founding fathers recognized the need for the new government to be able to tax fairly to operate. But the initial taxes levied by the fledgling U.S. were almost exclusively excise taxes levied against such things as whiskey, tobacco, slaves, and land grants. Only due to the large debts incurred at the beginning of the Civil War, did the Congress pass the first individual income tax. With mounting spending pressure in the Civil War, the Federal Government in 1862 passed its first tiered system of income tax with certain