At the Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention, James Wilson, a former Delegate to the Constitutional Convention, seeks to assure his colleagues that Congress will not rely on Direct taxation (“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) as a means of supporting the federal government:
Throughout the Union, direct taxation will be lessened, at least in proportion to the increase of the other objects of revenue. In this Constitution, a power is given to Congress to collect imposts, which is not given by the present Articles of the Confederation. A very considerable part of the revenue of the United States will arise from that source; it is the easiest, most just, and most productive mode of raising revenue; and it is a safe one, because it is voluntary. No man is obliged to consume more than he pleases, and each buys in proportion only to his consumption. The price of the commodity is blended with the tax, and the person is often not sensible of the payment.
[added 7/24/2026]
Subsequent Events:
Authority:
References:
Irwin A. Schiff, The Great Income Tax Hoax: Why You Can Immediately Stop Paying This Illegally Enforced Tax, (Hamden, Connecticut: Freedom Books, 1985), 424.
Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1: James Wilson, Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention
press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_8_1s6.html
Current U.s. National Debt:
