DIRECT TAXES [caption title].

A rare Confederate broadside arguing for the unconstitutionality of direct taxes proposed by the government in Richmond in order to fund the ongoing war effort. The anonymous author makes his argument thoroughly and litigiously, quoting extensively from such a variety of sources as Smith's Wealth of Nations, The Federalist Papers, nearly a century of congressional records, and more. Establishing through this evidence that "According to this definition, capitation taxes taxes on real estate or slaves or property, whether real or personal.are all direct taxes," he makes the argument that, in order to be constitutional, a capitation tax "must be apportioned according to the census." Put bluntly, since the new Confederate government had yet to conduct such a census, the proposed capitation tax was illegal. He ties this decision to both the founding of the nation and to the Confederacy's capital, quoting from Virginia's own convention to ratify the Constitution in 1788, where it was stated "Till this enumeration (the census) be made, Congress will have no power to lay direct taxes." The broadside is signed only "G*****", and is dated March 9, 1863. In reality, direct taxation in the Confederacy during the war was a mere fraction of what it was in the North, comprising less than ten percent of total revenue. A property tax (including slaves), known as the War Tax, was levied in August of 1861, but was more or less ignored by the people of the South. The tax which was actually imposed the month following this broadside's publication was the Tithe Act, a "tax in kind" which required plantation owners to surrender ten percent of their actual agricultural output. Despite the protestations of the author of this broadside among others in and out of Congress, the harsh reality of the war pushed the act over the line. In comparison to the War Tax of 1861, the Tithe Act was dramatically more successful at feeding the army without being subject to skyrocketing inflation, and by some estimates accounted for as much as half of the Confederacy's "real" revenue. A rare Confederate imprint, and evidence that, rebellion or not, legal arguments over taxation and slavery remained as acrid and contentious as ever. OCLC records only one copy, at the University of Virginia, and Parrish & Willingham and Hummel add only West Virginia University. PARRISH & WILLINGHAM 2065. HUMMEL, "MORE VIRGINIA BROADSIDES" 708. OCLC 26197925. Old folds, light tanning and staining. A few folds beginning to split, small holes at intersections. Good plus.…