Hillarysworld

No. On the contrary, the steadily receding frontier may have been the single most powerful stimulus of national government, a centralizing authority in Washington responsible for the orderly transition of vast territories into states, with, yes, taxes required for everything from surveys to canals to the protection of pioneers. Taxes paid, on one side, for the decimation of Native Americans, and, on the other, for the abolition of slavery. Ultimately, taxes paid for the creation of what we call — not “these’’ United States, but, in the article that candidate Barack Obama revitalized, “the’’ United States.

The humane spirit of commonwealth, once embraced, is expansive. Taxes paid for roads and for garrisons — and also for health and education. When the needs of some were met, the needs of all were made more apparent. Thus, America’s understanding of government’s role shifted when the people came to a common recognition that, acting together, they could — and should — provide basic necessities of life for Americans who lacked them. Charity yielded to justice. Soon enough, such provision was seen not as a matter of altruism, but as a way to assure the thriving of the whole nation. The old dichotomy between the individual and the group was shown up as false.