A Brief History of Taxation in Virginia,

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915. Excerpt: ... 1692 1693-4 21 1696 21 1697 16 1698-9 19 1705 3% 1710 9% 1740 3 1750 3 The value in money of tobacco per pound decreased from 12 pence in 1640 to three pence in 1652, one and one-half pence in 1682, and one penny per pound thereafter. The basis of taxation of polls was first in 1623 all "planters" over 18 years of age, but in 1630, the poll tax was extended to apply to all persons, that is, per "pole" the law not giving any definition as to sex or age, in order to gain more revenue to meet extraordinary expenses during the Indian wars. The number of "titheables"--i. e-, those who could be taxed--steadily increased from 2,000 in 1632 to 20,000 in 1697, and 82,000 in 1784, and the estimated revenue from the poll tax alone was as follows, amounts being given in pounds sterling: YEAR. Total. 1654 1,802 1671 3,250 1700 1,333 1740 790 1755 1,075 As these statistics show, the poll tax declined in importance toward the middle of the eighteenth century, although the expenses of government necessarily increased. The causes of this decline were two--an economical and a political. The first lay in a change in the ownership of land, the small proprietorships inaugurated under the methods of the London company having given way to large plantations owned by a few proprietors. A change had also occurred in the character of the labor employed, from the shiftless indentured whites to negro slaves, who, on account of their adaptability to the climatic and labor conditions, were, by far the most suitable. This resulted in a population upon each plantation, the servile part of which was considered the personal property of the plantation owner, and whose poll tax was a considerable item of expense. Since this landed class constituted for the most part the membership of the hou...