Friday, June 5, 2026

America 250: Short Update on North Carolina Colonials Expected to Pay Taxes in Gold and Silver

 Maybe I'll shorten the title <g>. In Spring 2026, I enrolled in a fantastic online course on sustainability. A recent publication I bought clarified in the run-up to the American Revolution, the British Parliament imposed a Stamp Tax. The tax had to be paid in gold and silver coin only, when the colonists tended to use paper currency or barter. 

As I alluded to in my course assignments, paying taxes in coin posed a hardship on North Carolinian colonials: they had to leave their farms for Wilmington or other towns to sell their crops to obtain silver or gold, a risky business and burden. What source could gold or silver coin come from? sailors, captains of vessels and sailing ships, book-keepers, banks? It's an interesting topic I plan to pursue. 

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