In 1777, the Continental Congress passed the Articles of Confederation. The Articles did not grant Congress the power to tax, only the authority to request funds from states.

The Internal Revenue Service was created in 1791 to collect the Whiskey excise tax. The tax ranged from 7 to 18 cents per gallon.

The first suggestion of creating income taxes in the US was during the War of 1812. The idea was dismissed, but returned with the Tax Act of 1861 which was passed but not implemented.

A new Tax Act was passed and put in force in 1862 to help finance the Civil War.

Anyone care to guess what the income tax rates were in 1862? Compliance, by the way, was very low.

Also, what was the estimated total amount of taxes paid by Americans as a percentage of average income at the outbreak of the American Revolution? Taxes imposed by an out-of-touch government, by the way, were one of the major reasons for the War of Independence in the first place. Perhaps it is time for another revolt?!