The Taxation Our Founders Hated:

By KrisAnne Hall, JD

In light of all the distortions and half-truths that are constantly repeated, let’s be clear –what sparked the ire of our founders was not taxes; it was tyranny. Their theme was not simply Taxed Enough Already – it was Tyrannized Enough Already. Their tolerance for tyranny was taxed to the max – that’s the taxation the founders could no longer take.

The original tea party was not just about money and the driving force toward American independence was not simply taxation. At the crux of the matter were the PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT that created the taxation – taxation WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. It was about government eliminating the common rights of the people. The motivation behind the tea party event was Great Britain’s attempt to remove the people’s right to electively engage in trade, by mandating purchases only from the government…

But if our Trade is to be curtailed in its most profitable Branches, & Burdens beyond all possible Bearing, laid upon that which is suffered to remain, we shall be so far from being able to take off the manufactures of Great Britain, that it will be scarce possible for us to earn our Bread…? [Samuel Adams, May 15, 1764, Boston Record Commissioners’ Report, vol. 16, pp. 120-122]

Sam Adams went onto explain that the act of arbitrary taxation makes slaves out of a free people:

For if our Trade may be taxed why not our Lands? Why not the Produce of our Lands & every thing [sic] 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? [Samuel Adams, May 15, 1764, Boston Record Commissioners’ Report, vol. 16, pp. 120-122, emphasis added]

Sam Adams saw the big picture. He knew that if the king assumed the power to lay taxes contrary to the common rights of the colonists, without giving the people any voice, there would be no limit to the power of this government.

This current government feels it may force the citizens to purchase healthcare based entirely upon the condition of being alive. If the government is granted such power over the people, ignoring the voice of the people and denying their proper representation, then where are the limits to this power?

Adams, attempting to make this point very clear, emphasized that “among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.” [Sam Adams, The Report of the Committee of Correspondence, to the Boston Town Meeting, Nov. 20, 1772]

Was it the money that caused our founders to demand independence? No. It was the erosion of Liberty. The violation of sound principles of government. One quick look at the Declaration of Independence will tell the tale.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

It was not money; it was the King controlling the entire government, eating away at the separation of powers and coercing Parliament into submission, creating a government ruled solely by the whim of the King. How does this compare to the government we see today?

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. •He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. •For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. [Declaration of Independence]

America now has a Congress that is unwilling to fulfill their solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution.  They invent crisis after crisis to deceive the people that an increase of government power and limitless spending power is necessary.  William Pitt, the younger said in 1783:

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”

Members of Congress constantly shirk their responsibilities to the people and evade accountability establishing no limit to the reach of their power.  This Congress has never stood with “manly firmness.”  Congress has become the tyrant American forefathers warned and the America political psyche has devolved into the attitude of slaves.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. [Declaration of Independence]

America now has a Congress refusing to protect the people. Although protection from invasion is actually one of the delegated powers of the Federal Government, our federal government has refused to provide for America’s protection. Instead of dealing with the threats, they argue that limiting the people’s Liberty is the way to keep America safe. And the “State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.”

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. [Declaration of Independence]

America has a Congress that has refused to hold criminals disguising as government agents accountable for their lawless acts.  Hearing after hearing, in a fake court that can only compare to the English Star Chambers of Henry VII, Charles I, and his son James II, has exposed the existence undeniable evidence of clear violations of law over the last decade.  Yet, Congress does nothing but make excuses for the political elite, establishing a second set of laws for those in power.  Are not these actions truly obstructing the Administration of Justice and an open declaration by those trusted in government to refuse to assent to the law?

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. •He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: [Declaration of Independence]

America has a Congress who will not reign in Executive Regulatory Agencies? How many NEW regulatory agencies, czars, and regulations must we suffer before Congress acts? Every new piece of legislation establishes a new “Task Force,” an new bureaucracy to rule over the people with no elective accountability.  What about the regulations and government intrusions by these usurpers that are literally “harassing our people and eating out their substance?” Do we just dismiss the raids on the farms and co-ops over raw milk? Do we forget that Abner Scheonwetter spent 6 years in prison after a regulatory agency prosecuted him for violating an unconstitutional foreign law? Do we allow the EPA to override the Bill of Rights and enforce THEIR OWN law upon the people without due process as they did to the residents of Bonner County, Idaho, among others?  What about the cry for the necessity of gun control and speech control (also called “hate”) laws?

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: [Declaration of Independence]

America has a Congress has become the epitome of a press gang, robber barons- regularly denying Americans their Rights to due process and property.  Our legislators enact laws and turn a blind eye to regulations that enable a true kind of tyranny over the people committed by executive agencies and their agents through laws like the Patriot Act, sections 1021 and 1022 of NDAA, and The Federal Building and Grounds Improvement Act [HR347].

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. [Declaration of Independence]

America has a government that attempts to regulate out of existence our right to bear arms. Where will the power of the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA end? When will Congress step up and become the guardians of the Constitution as their oath demands? Our Congress has failed to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people. It has become a government of power in an Oligarchy.

For our founders, it was never just about the money and it was always about the tyranny of those in power who were able to convince a majority that the “good of the Kingdom” was more important than the common rights of men. For more than a decade, our founders continued to speak and continued to be ignored.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. [Declaration of Independence]

However, there is a growing number of Americans who feel we have been ignored too long.  Tired of being silent while the liberties of our children are sacrificed at the alter of political pragmatism.  But the courage to overcome that silence is growing.  And when the need for true liberty and real self-governance overrides the desire for comfort, the people will recover their God given rights from the clutches of a legislative body focused only upon power, personal wealth, and control. Then we will not quit until the task is complete. We will be resolved to give our last breath in the defense of Liberty.

It is time America, to declare that these princes are unfit to be rulers of a free people. It is time America, to put Liberty FIRST. It is time America to reclaim the once great nation our founders sacrificed all to give to us. It is time for Americans to courageously demand that we are a government where people are government and its agents are the subjects.  It is time America, to save our children from the burdens of tyranny and the price to be paid for Liberty. It is time to continue to identify the hypocrites and cowards. It is time to support TRUE CONSTITUITONALISTS, ones who have proven themselves by actions, not by idle words. It is time to fire the rest of them, regardless of their personality, their former occupations, or their charming good looks.  Americans must call out these pretenders with a bold condemnation:

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” – Samuel Adams

Do we want Liberty or do we want slavery. The choice is just that simple, because it is NOT about the money.