Well, not really. The 16th Amendment, which gave Congress the “power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration” was ratified on February 3, 1913.

Recently, my parents visited some of the mansions in Newport, Rhode Island, where many of the great industrialists of the 19th century maintained palatial homes. My dad asked me how did Congress fund the government before the 16th Amendment. My response–they spent less.

H/T TaxProfBlog