Taxes

John Franks Taxation; Yay or nay' When the Constitution was progressing from an idea to reality, many great thinkers and political leaders went head-to-head on every single aspect being written about. That was because they all had different concerns. The different concerns came from their aberration in region and economics. Taxes were a main concern, and led to some very important debates. The two most important representations of how region and economy effected the concerns people had was the three-fifths compromise and the ratification of the Constitution itself. When the American's broke free from British rule, they slowly started to see a large decline in their economy. The American's were actually in debt because of the war. The government then sought new ways to make money. Taxation was probably one of the first things that came up. Of course this idea had to go through the Articles of Confederation. Not only did they have to figure out if taxing was the right way to go or not, but they had to deal with how they would tax, and what qualified you for being taxed. Ultimately, after multiple propositions by Benjamin Harrison and many from New England, congress came to the conclusion that they would take James Madison's idea of a three-fifths ratio. Meaning they would count three-fifths of the slave's as general population. However, the idea didn't make it to the Articles of Confederation. It came up short of votes. The real controversy and fear that James Madison's idea brought was between the Northernly and Southernly states. The South had a very obviously large abundance of slaves, where as the Northernly states didn't. This meant that taxing in the South would be much larger then in the North. This modus operandi didn't bode to well with the Southerners. When the Constitutional Convention came around, this problem rose once again on the idea of tax and population. As the Convention went on, the Southerners started to notice the Pro's of slaves being counted. The idea of seats in the Congress was much more important. So the three-fifths amendment was put into the constitution. "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons." As the Constitutional Convention progressed, many fought against the Constitution. This brought upon the names, Federalists and Antifederalists. Federalists favored the Constitution and the creation of a strong central government. Antifederalists opposed the Constitution and the creation of a strong central government. As there were many reasons why the two thought differently, tax was once again a very common issue. Federalists were mainly men of wealth and political experience. They were generally from smaller states and worried that the larger states were much more powerful then them, and obviously sought protection. These were mainly people from costal regions, who's commerce was based on the sea and from trade. They were the ones bringing in the products, and selling them to their states. Likewise, they believed in a government that would bring a harsh taxation to foreign and interstate trades, making them a better contender for riches in a tough economy. On the other hand though, the Antifederalists, mainly farmers from the South and/or the West, didn't want tax at all. Their economy was based on selling anything taken from farming. Which didn't call for tax, so they were just fine with no central government. Once again, pointing towards the region they lived in and ways of economics that led to such debates around the Constitution. The population and occupation of the citizens had a lot to do with the outcome of taxation. In conclusion, as seen in both the three-fifths compromise and the ratification of the Constitution, the main debates resulted from the difference in region and economy.