ABSTRACT
The region west of the Mississippi River was friendly territory, so far as the federal income tax amendment was concerned. The initial enactment of the tax during the Civil War had been largely in response to the demands of westerners. It was primarily through western efforts that the tax was retained after Appomattox. Western congressmen also generally pushed for immediate enactment of the income tax in 1909, only to see their efforts frustrated again by the influential eastern wing of the Republican Party. “The West,” according to Gerald Nash “became prey to the more highly industrial East, which had the capital, the markets, and the skills to utilize many of the region’s natural riches.” The West’s relatively even distribution of income, then, coupled with a widespread reaction against colonialism and special interests, along with anticipation of burgeoning federal expenditures, led to over-whelming support for the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment.
