*Reiterate important points from last week, especially about the Peace of Paris, Pontiac’s Rebellion, the Proclamation of 1763, and Britain’s immense war debt.

*Turn to lecture on government and taxes.

*Explain that the British were generally felt (even by Americans) to have the best government in the world at the time because it was a mixed government, taking advantage of all three types.

*Introduce Polybius (c. 200-118 BC) and the theory of three simple types of government, each of which can degenerate into another form.

*Write each type in both its forms on the board.

*Discuss monarchy, the rule by one, and how it can turn into tyranny.

*Some good examples of monarchy are the France of Louis XIV and modern Quatar.  France was also viewed by some as tyrannical, and Iraq before the fall of Hussein could be an example of tyranny, although he did have a parliament of sorts.

*Discuss aristocracy, the rule by the best, and how it can turn into oligarchy, or rule by the few.

*The United Arab Emirates might be a modern example while the Dutch Republic of history might be an example of an aristocracy that became an oligarchy.  Saudi Arabia is almost an aristocracy as the supposedly absolute monarch actually has to deal with powerful clan and tribal leaders throughout the nation—an example of a check on his power (and he on theirs).

*Discuss democracy, rule by the people, and how it can turn into ochlocracy, better known as mob rule or mobocracy.  Mention the ‘tyranny of the majority’ and claim that little more dangerous than the MTV Music Awards is managed by democracy today (and thank goodness).

*For democracy, ancient Athens is a good example, as are the New England town meetings.  Mob rule can be seen in a lynch mob or whenever a majority in a democracy uses its voting power against a minority.

*Explain how the British system, especially at the time of the Revolution, incorporated all these elements—the King is a monarch, the House of Lords represents the aristocracy, and the House of Commons injects democracy into the system.

*Most colonial governments worked in much the same way, with a Royal Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, a Council, and an Assembly, House of Commons, or House of Burgesses.

*The government America would eventually form was intentionally based on this model.  The monarch is the president, the aristocracy is the Senate (especially before the XVII Amendment), and the House of Representatives is the democratic element.  The Supreme Court is also aristocratic in nature because it is appointed and has a life tenure, and it may be worth mentioning that the House of Lords in Britain is also their Supreme Court in most cases.  The electoral college is somewhat aristocratic and is used to separate the president from the people so his office will not be too democratic.

*In Britain (and America) at this time, it was believed that liberty was based on property.  Consequently, a just government could not take anyone’s property.  Taxes were, at least in theory, a gift from the people to the government.  Therefore, taxes could only be levied by Parliament (or another representative body) because it represents the property-owners.

*A theoretical division, at least in America, was drawn between internal (on property, for revenue) and external (on trade, to regulate commerce and the Empire as a whole) taxes.  Most British people felt this was silly.

*A theoretical division, at least in Britain, was drawn between actual and virtual representation.  Actual representation occurred when a man voted for a MP, but the MPs also virtually represented all Englishmen, with whom they naturally had certain sympathies.  Many Americans felt this was silly, at least across the Atlantic.

*There were a number of external taxes in place before the 1760s (such as the Molasses Act), but most were not enforced, or at least not enforced well.  Men (like John Hancock) grew rich off smuggling.

*Taxes like this were acceptable in part because they were easy to get around and because they were part of the mercantilist system.  The idea behind the mercantilist system (which all imperial powers used) was that the colonies ought to supply raw materials to Europe, who would in turn sell manufactured goods to the colonies.  Each set of colonies only supplied and bought from the mother country.  The idea was that each empire would be self-sufficient.  Indirect taxes that promoted this were seen as a reasonable part of keeping the empire running.  They also often helped the colonies, as products like tobacco were essentially subsidised by this system, which made sure Virginia tobacco could be sold in London.

*Thanks to the French and Indian War, however, Britain is deep (£125 million to £140 million) in debt, and also needs to police the Proclamation Line.  Parliament will soon need to raise taxes, and will irritate many people in the process, ultimately leading to Revolution.

*As mentioned above, Parliament will need to raise revenue to pay for the war, but taxes that raise revenue are not, according to the colonies, within Parliament’s sphere of legitimate powers.  Our next class will discuss how taxation without representation leads to conflict and ultimately revolution.

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