Dispelling the Fog About Direct Taxation (First Version)

James Campbell

Article comments

Revised and expanded version published in British Journal of American Legal Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2012) pp. 109-172.

Abstract

The title is an allusion to James Madison’s comment about Alexander Hamilton’s performance before the Supreme Court in Hylton v. US (1796). It is ironic that whatever fog Hamilton raised in the minds of the Justices about the question of direct taxation, Justice Iredell’s notes of oral arguments in the case show that Hamilton knew perfectly well what the Framers of the Constitution meant by direct taxes, and that the Justices ignored or misunderstood what he told them when reaching their decision.

In addition to an extensive reconsideration of the arguments in Hylton, the essay offers its readers a fresh interpretation of the purpose of the apportionment requirement, an investigation of what the Direct Tax Act of 1798 reveals about the nature of direct taxation, and an analysis of the relationship between Adam Smith’s ideas about direct taxation and the Constitutional language.