1799 Newspaper Pennsylvania Tax Protester John Fries Found Guilty of Treason for Fries's Rebellion
Hartford, CT: The Connecticut Courant, 1799. 1st Edition. Very Good. Item #19460
An original 1799 Hartford, Connecticut newspaper with detailed inside-page coverage of the trial of John Fries, one of the leaders of Fries' Rebellion against taxes imposed by the Adams Administration.
This historic newspaper features headline reports, is complete in four pages and is in very good condition.
"In July 1798, during the troubles between the United States and France now known as the Quasi-War, the US Congress levied a direct tax (on dwelling-houses, lands and slaves; sometimes called the Direct House Tax of 1798) of $2 million, of which Pennsylvania's share would have been $237,000.
"There were very few slaves in Pennsylvania, and the tax was accordingly assessed upon dwelling-houses and land, the value of the houses being determined by the number and size of the windows. For many residents of the area, this came to be known as The Window Tax. The inquisitorial nature of the proceedings, with assessors riding around and counting windows, aroused strong opposition, and many refused to pay, making the constitutional argument that this tax was not being levied in proportion to population. Pennsylvania German farmers were also upset at the fact that the tax assessors were largely Quakers and Moravians, neither of which fought in the American Revolution, while the majority of farmers did.
"Pennsylvania auctioneer John Fries organized meetings, starting in February 1799, to discuss a collective response to the tax. As an itinerant auctioneer, Fries was well acquainted with the German-Americans' issues in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania. This was important because the three counties in which the opposition was centered (Bucks, Northampton, and Montgomery) were heavily populated by German immigrants. In Milford township, particularly, assessors were unsuccessful in completing their tax assessments due to intimidation. At a meeting called by government representatives in an attempt to explain the tax in a way as to defuse tensions, protesters waving liberty flags, some in Continental Army uniforms, shouted them down and turned the meeting into a protest rally.
"The assessors at first determined to continue their work in Milford. Fries personally warned the assessors to quit their work, but they ignored the threat. He then led a small band that harassed the assessors enough that they decided to abandon Milford for the time being.
"In early March, a local militia company and a growing force of irregulars met, marching to the accompaniment of drum and fife. About a hundred set off for Quakertown in pursuit of the assessors, whom they intended to place under arrest. They captured a number of assessors there, releasing them with a warning not to return and to tell the government what had happened to them.
"Federal warrants were issued, and the U.S. Marshal began arresting people for tax resistance in Northampton. Arrests were made without much incident until the marshal reached Macungie, then known as Millerstown,[6] where a crowd formed to protect a man from arrest. Failing to make that arrest, the marshal made a few others and returned to Bethlehem with his prisoners.
"Two separate groups of rebels independently vowed to liberate the prisoners, and marched on Bethlehem.[7][8] They prevailed without violence, and freed the tax resisters who had been arrested. In response to this action, President John Adams called out a force of federal troops and local militia. They marched into the rebellious counties and began making wholesale arrests of the insurgents. John Fries was among the men captured." - wiki
#2I-060.
Price: $45.00