At the Connecticut Ratifying Convention, Oliver Ellsworth cautions against Congress being allowed to impose a Direct tax (“a tax exacted directly from the person on whom the ultimate burden of the tax is expected to fall, such as property, income, gift, inheritance, and poll taxes.” –– Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary) during peace time:
Direct taxation can go but little way towards raising a revenue [sic]. To raise money in this way, people must be provident; they must be constantly laying up money to answer the demands of the collector. …
The experiments which have been made in our own country show the productive nature of indirect taxes. The imports into the United States amount to a very large sum. They never will be less, but will continue to increase for ages and centuries to come. As the population of our country increases, the imposts will necessarily increase.
[added 7/24/2026]
Subsequent Events:
Authority:
Articles of Confederation, Article XIII
ccc-2point0.com/Articles-of-Confederation
References:
Irwin A. Schiff, The Great Income Tax Hoax: Why You Can Immediately Stop Paying This Illegally Enforced Tax, (Hamden, Connecticut: Freedom Books, 1985), 420.
Current U.s. National Debt:
