1776: The Revolt Against Austerity

[malthaussen]

1. Austerity? The Empire had a war to pay for.

A war that had been fought in the colonies as well as around the world. Of course they had a debt to cover -- the same debts would eventually lead to a revolution in France as well, after another round of the War for European Hegemony.

I'm re-reading Slaughter's accout of the Whiskey Rebellion at the moment, and he makes much of the distinction between internal and external taxes. I think one needs to remember how important this was when judging causes of the Revolution. The colonists only truly got pissed off when parliament began to impose internal taxes (Stamp Act, e.g.) on them. They were pretty okay with external taxes... except, of course, merchants and smugglers like Mr Hancock, who was subject to more and better-enforced tariffs.

-- Mal