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The History of Parliamentary Taxation in England

Chapter 2: PREFACE
By Shepard Ashman Morgan
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History - BritishHistory - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)History - Medieval/Middle AgesHistory - Modern (1750+)

About This Book

The essay traces the legal and political evolution of taxation in England from early customary levies under Anglo-Saxon rule through medieval feudal exactions to the gradual transfer of taxing authority to representative assemblies. It examines royal revenues, extraordinary contributions, scutage, tallage, customs on wool, and assessments by juries and councils; key constitutional moments such as baronial resistance, Magna Carta, the Model Parliament, and confirmations limiting arbitrary impositions are analyzed. Focus centers on who held authority to tax, how grants and consent developed into the Commons' control over money, and the institutional mechanisms and precedents that shaped parliamentary taxation up to the establishment of the Commons' primacy in initiating revenue measures.

PREFACE

This is the second volume in the series of “David A. Wells Prize Essays” established under the provisions of the bequest of the late David A. Wells. The subject for competition is announced in the spring of each year and essays may be submitted by members of the senior class in Williams College and by graduates of not more than three years’ standing. By the terms of the will of the founder the following limitation is imposed: “No subject shall be selected for competitive writing or investigation and no essay shall be considered which in any way advocates or defends the spoliation of property under form or process of law; or the restriction of Commerce in times of peace by Legislation, except for moral or sanitary purposes; or the enactment of usury laws; or the impairment of contracts by the debasement of coin; or the issue and use by Government of irredeemable notes or promises to pay intended to be used as currency and as a substitute for money; or which defends the endowment of such ‘paper,’ ‘notes’ and ‘promises to pay’ with the legal tender quality.”

The first essay, published in 1905, was “The Contributions of the Landed Man to Civil Liberty,” by Elwin Lawrence Page. The subject of the following essay was announced in 1906 by the late Henry Loomis Nelson, then David A. Wells Professor of Political Science. As first framed it read, “The Origin and Growth of the Power of the English National Council and Parliament to Levy Taxes, from the Time of the Norman Conquest to the Enactment of the Bill of Rights; Together with a Statement of the Constitutional Law of the United States Governing Taxation.” Mr. Nelson subsequently eliminated the last clause, thus restricting the field of the essay to English Constitutional History. The prize was awarded in 1907. Since the death of Mr. Nelson in 1908, the task of editing the successful essay has been given to the undersigned in coöperation with the author.

In publishing this volume occasion is taken to state the purpose of the competition. Since it is confined to students and graduates of a college which offers no post-graduate instruction, it is not intended to require original historical research but rather to encourage a thoughtful handling of problems in political science.

Theodore Clarke Smith,

J. Leland Miller Professor of

American History

Williams College,

Williamstown, Mass., December, 1910.