Taxes and Slavery – Module 3

Taxes and Slavery – Module 3

Robin Einhorn’s essay, Tax Aversion and the Legacy of Slavery, clearly states what I believe to be true in terms of American taxes. “Middle-income people who pay big chunks of their earnings in payroll and sales taxes will support tax cuts for millionaires (estate tax abolition, low capital gains rates), which not only threaten the funding for the services on which they depend – but may even increase their taxes!” (Einhorn para. 1) The aforementioned is a fundamental belief of conservative Americans that absolutely puzzles me. Tax cuts for the millionaire’s mean less money going towards the services that the federal government provide to middle and low income American families. “They have more to do with protections for entrenched wealth than with promises of opportunity, and more to do with the demands of privileged elites than with the strivings of the common man.” (Einhorn para. 5)

The same could be said for Southerners who wanted to keep slavery for as long as possible, it had everything to do with money/taxes and politics and nothing to do with social services or being fair and just. “Slavery was a major institution in the American economy, slaveholders were major players in American politics, and major political decisions, such as tax decision always had to take these facts into account.” (Einhorn para. 6) The North and South were always at odds on how to distribute the state taxes.

The South benefitted greatly when the three-fifths clause was enacted:

"…under the three-fifths clause of the Constitution, each slave – who had no legal rights as a person – counted as three-fifths of a free person when determining the basis for congressional representation and direct taxation. As a result, the South gained an advantage in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College.” (Gisolfi para. 2)

Further, “Under Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 of the original U.S. Constitution prohibited Congress from ending the slave trade before 1808. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding $10 for each person.” (Gisolfi para. 16)

I think that there is a widespread misconception that slavery remained so long in this country for merely plantation help and free hard-labor. Money and politics equal power and slavery was a huge part of both.

Works Cited

Einhorn, Robin. “Tax Aversion and the Legacy of Slavery”. Web. 2011 June 22

Gisolfi, Monica. “Slavery and the U.S. Constitution.” Columbia University. Web. 2011 June 24

Zinn Conflicted - Module 2

Zinn Conflicted

　

I am very conflicted with Zinn’s statement of how historians should, “…emphasize new possibilities by disclosing those hidden episodes of that past…” (Zinn 12). I feel that that could be very subjective. In history, and as with any well crafted argument, if the author speculates with enough conviction, they can sway the reader to believe what they are saying to be factual. Swaying or entertaining the reader does not make the material historically factual.

I also disagree with his observation that reciting factual events, “…make(s) historians collaborators in the endless cycle of defeat.” (Zinn 11). To me, that sounds so depressing. I would hate to read a history book that regurgitated an endless cycle of defeat. I think that one can write a creative historical text by using descriptive words instead of speculative narration.

With that being said, I feel that Foner’s description of The Pueblo Revolt was creatively crafted to both tell the story and engage emotion. He built-up the tempo with statements such as, “Franciscan friars worked relentlessly to convert Indians to Catholicism, often using intimidation and violence.” (Foner 31) That raised the stakes and elevated the story to the to the explosive conflict. He then concluded with relaying that, “They rebuilt their places of worship, called “kivas”, and resumed sacred dances the friars had banned. ‘The God of the Spaniards’ they should ‘is dead’”. Within six short paragraphs he was able to take the reader through that historical event, invoke compassion and understanding as well as providing knowledge.

Works Cited

Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States Volume I: American Beginnings to         Reconstruction. New York: The New Press, 2003. Print

Foner, Eric. Give me Liberty! An American History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2009. Print
　

Tayshia's .02$

Hi!  My name is Tayshia and I am taking this history class because (1) I love history; and (2) I am 6 units away from completing my undergrad in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco and this class will satisfy 3 of those units.  I look forward to reading the required book by Howard Zinn, I have been an admirer of his work for a long time.  He puts an interesting spin on things that I can relate to.  Also, my knowledge on US history before the Civil War is limited so I am anxious to learn about the settlors. 

Good luck fellow classmates, this class will go by really quickly!