The above is an outline of the financial history of the state during the Revolution. We now turn back for a moment to obtain a more detailed idea of taxation. Perhaps this can best be done, as in the case of the French and Indian war, by means of a table. (The date given is that of the passage of the act assessing the tax. The first column contains the nominal amount of the tax as stated in said act. The second column contains the nominal amount of the tax actually assessed, certain deductions being necessary on account of the occupation of portions of the state by the enemy and for other reasons. The third column contains the same reduced to specie value, and the fourth column contains the same expressed in our present dollars. The taxes marked with a star are for continental purposes)[[109]].
| Date. | Nominal value in pounds. | Nominal value assessed. | Specie value assessed. | Value in dollars. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March, 1777. | 16,000 | 12,658 | 11,613 | 42,387. | |
| Aug. 1777. | 32,000 | 25,316 | 16,877 | 61,601. | |
| Dec. 1777. | 48,000 | 37,115 | 11,973 | 43,701. | |
| 147,689. | |||||
| Feb. 1778. | 32,000 | 24,365 | 6,962 | 25,411. | |
| June 1778. | 32,000 | 24,289 | 6,072 | 22,163. | |
| Oct. 1778. | 32,000 | After | 6,000 | 21,900. | |
| 69,474. | |||||
| Feb. 1779. | 60,000 | June, | 6,912 | 25,229. | |
| x Feb. 1779. | 90,000 | 1778, | 10,369 | 37,847. | |
| June 1779. | 60,000 | the | 4,471 | 16,319. | |
| x June 1779. | 225,000 | first | 16,766 | 61,196. | |
| x Dec. 1779. | 120,000 | and | 4,628 | 16,892 | |
| 157,483. | |||||
| x Feb. 1780. | 180,000 | second | 5,418 | 19,776. | |
| x May 1780. | 180,000 | columns | 3,913 | 14,282 | |
| May 1780. | 180,000 | are the | 3,913 | 14,282. | |
| July 1780. | 10,000 | same. | 10,000 | 36,500. | |
| July 1780. | 400,000 | 5,797 | 21,159 | ||
| Nov. 1780. | 1,000,000 | 13,514 | 49,326. | ||
| Nov. 1780. | 16,000 | 16,000 | 58,400. | ||
| 213,725. | |||||
| May, 1781. | 20,000 | 20,000 | 73,000 | ||
| May, 1781. | 6,000 | 6,000 | 21,900 | ||
| 94,900 | |||||
| x Jan. 1782. | 6,000 | 6,000 | 21,900 | ||
| Jan. 1782. | 12,000 | 12,000 | 43,800 | ||
| x Feb. 1782. | 6,000 | 6,000 | 21,900 | ||
| x June 1782. | 12,000 | 12,000 | 43,800 | ||
| 131,400. | |||||
| June 1783. | 20,000 | 20,000 | 73,000 | ||
| 73,000. | |||||
| June 1784. | 20,000 | 20,000 | 73,000 | ||
| 73,000 | |||||
| Aug. 1785. | 20,000 | 20,000 | 73,000 | ||
| 73,000. | |||||
| June 1786. | 20,000 | 13,333 | 48,665. | ||
| 48,665 | |||||
| March 1787. | 20,000 | 3,534 | 12,899 | ||
| Sept. 1787. | 30,000 | 5,000 | 18,250. | ||
| 31,149. | |||||
| June 1788. | 30,000 | 4,000 | 14,600 | ||
| 14,600 | |||||
| March 1789. | 20,000 | 1,667 | 6,085 | ||
| 6,085. |
In addition to these money taxes there were various other burdens which took the form of more or less arbitrary contributions. Enactments were early passed regulating the prices of all articles, and, in case they could not be otherwise procured, authorizing their seizure at these stated prices to meet various expenditures. It became customary, when troops were to be raised, to require each town to raise a certain number, often a cause of considerable expense, and, as the war went on and paper money and loans failed as sources of state revenue, it was common to hold each town responsible for a certain quantity of clothing or provisions. Payment of some kind was generally provided for, but, owing to the wretched financial conditions of the time, these requirements must have operated to a certain extent as a tax.
The long continued presence of the enemy necessitated in addition to the maintenance of an army as large or larger than the states proportion of the continental levies, an almost constant militia service which, though nominally paid for, must have been a severe burden and interfered seriously with industry. Again, in any attempt to estimate the burden of taxation during the Revolution, we must take into consideration not only the impositions above mentioned, which partake more or less of the character of taxation itself, but also the general condition of the colony. The British held possession of the island towns from December, 1776, to October, 1779. These towns were in great part deserted by the sympathizers with the American cause, who, having lost almost all their property, became a burden upon the rest of the state. All the towns situated upon the sea coast or upon the shore of the bay were subject to the incursions of the enemy and were kept in a constant state of alarm, while on one occasion at least arrangements were made for the evacuation of Providence. Commerce was practically destroyed and economic life apparently to a great extent disorganized, giving rise to wide spread suffering from poverty.
If we assume the population of the taxable portion of the state for the years 1777-8-9, to be 46,000, the per capita rate of taxation for the period was about $2.71 per annum, and the rate for the years 1780-1-2, on the basis of the population in 1782, was $2.80. The highest rate during the period was in 1780, when it reached $4.08. With the close of the war taxation diminished. In 1783-4-5, it was about $1.35 per capita, and after the issue of paper money in 1786, it gradually sank until in 1789, it amounted to only about 9 cents.
Estimating the rateable property in this state, exclusive of the towns in possession of the British, at $10,165,048, the rate of taxation for the three years 1777-1779, would have been 1.22 per cent per annum.
On a ratable basis if $10,903,312, the rate in the years 1780-82, was 1.34 per cent, the highest rate during the period was 1.96 per cent in 1780. On the basis of the valuation computed in 1783, the rate for the years 1783-1785, was only .6 per cent and had fallen to .05 per cent in 1789.
When we remember that this taxation was for both state and continental purposes, it does not seem excessive, judged by the figures of today. Taking into consideration however the general and special economic conditions of the period, it is safe to say that it was a heavy burden.[[110]] Any comparison with recent times must necessarily be unsatisfactory, for finance was an art but little developed in the United States one hundred years ago, and the burdens of the Revolution were felt much more in the shape of a constantly depreciating currency, forced seizures of property, service without recompense, unpaid debts, and general economic disturbance, than in excessive taxation.
The law of taxation since 1710.
The history of the law of taxation shows us no change of principle but only a further development of detail where experience had shown[[111]] existing provisions inadequate. Additional measures against foreign traders were passed. In 1738 each town was directed to choose "three discreet and prudent Persons" to assess such foreign traders according to their trade. In case of non-payment the delinquent might be distrained upon or in case there was not sufficient visible property he might be committed to jail.[[112]]