"The United States owes its birth in part to a tax strike. Despite this fact, tax rebellion has not been a favorite topic of American historians. Remarkably few studies deal with the politics of taxation--much less tax revolt--after the Whiskey Rebellion in the 1790s. This neglect is lamentable not only because the taxpayers' protest merits consideration as a historical phenomenon in its own right but because it also offers a suggestive approach to several vital questions. Chief among these is the relationship of tax conflicts to the following issues: the perpetuation of legitimacy by the state, class theory, and the strengths, weaknesses, and persistence of anti-big-government thought during American economic crises."

—David T. Beito, Taxpayers in Revolt: Tax Resistance during the Great Depression [2]