This week at In The Past Lane, in honor (if that's the right word) of Tax Day, we take a close look at the history of the fraught relationship between Americans and their taxes. This episode features three segments: 1) an interview with historian William Hogeland about his terrific book on one of the biggest tax revolts in US history, the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. 2) the story of a one-man, one-day tax revolt by Henry David Thoreau that -- eventually -- exerted a tremendous influence on social justice struggles around the world, including women's suffrage and civil rights for African Americans in the US. 3) a fun grab bag of things related to the history of taxes in US history, including - wait for it - a reason to be thankful for taxes ... seriously ...

Episode 009 notes and credits

Further reading about the history of taxes and tax revolts

Charles Adams, Those Dirty Rotten Taxes: The Tax Revolts That Built America (1998).

William Hogeland, The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America’s Newfound Sovereignty (2010)

Thomas P. Slaughter, The Whiskey Rebellion: Frontier Epilogue to the American Revolution (1986)

Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Civil Disobedience, and Other Writings, William Rossi, Ed. (2008)

Some History Podcasts to Check Out

Ben Frankin’s World with Liz Covart http://www.benfranklinsworld.com/

Past Present with Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Petrzela, and Neil Young http://www.pastpresentpodcast.com/

Slate’s History of Slavery with Rebecca Onion http://www.slate.com/articles/slate_plus/history_of_slavery.html

The Way of Improvement Leads Home with John Fea http://www.philipvickersfithian.com/

BackStory with the American History Guys http://backstoryradio.org/

Music for This Episode:

Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (courtesy, JayGMusic.com)

Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive)

The Womb, “I Hope That It Hurts” (Free Music Archive)

Lee Rosevere, “Going Home” (Free Music Archive)

Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive)

The Bell, “On The Street” (Free Music Archive)

Jason Shaw, “Acoustic Meditation” (Free Music Archive)