steals a nickel as by one who robs a bank of a thousand dollars,
by one who ruins our flower bed as well as by one who burns our
house. The amount has nothing to do with it. The tax which the
English government imposed on tea imported by the American
colonists was not a heavy tax, but the colonists objected because
it was imposed without their consent.

CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

The citizens of a free country require protection of their
property rights against infringement by their government as well
as by one another. The Revolutionary War was fought in defense of
this and other rights against violation by the English government.
When the Constitution of the United States was framed, the people
refused to ratify it unless amendments were added guaranteeing
these rights. Thus it was provided that "no soldier shall, in time
of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the
owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by
law" (Amendment III); that "the right of the people to be secure
in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ..."
(Amendment IV); that "no persons shall be ... deprived of life,
liberty or property, without due process of law; nor shall private
property be taken for public use without just compensation"
(Amendment V. See also Chapter XIV, p. 207). The Constitution also
provides that "no state shall ... pass any ... law impairing the
obligation of contracts" (Art. I, sec. 10, clause I), and in
various other ways protects our property rights. Our state
constitutions contain many similar provisions. Our governments
have the power to take property in the form of taxes, but under