Legal Definitions - head money

Head money refers to several distinct types of payments or taxes, most of which are historical:

• 1. A tax levied on individuals: This is a tax imposed equally on each person, often based on their membership in a specific group or simply on their existence within a jurisdiction, rather than on their income or property. It is also known as a poll tax or capitation tax.

  • Example A: In a historical context, a newly formed town might have required every adult resident to pay a fixed annual sum of $5 to contribute to the town's general fund, regardless of their wealth or income. This $5 payment per person would be considered head money.

    Explanation: This illustrates head money as a uniform tax on each individual, not tied to their financial capacity or property ownership.

  • Example B: During a period of political unrest, a government might have imposed a special "citizenship fee" of $10 on every registered voter to fund election security measures. Each voter would pay the same amount. This fee would be a form of head money.

    Explanation: Here, head money is applied to a specific class of people (registered voters) as a fixed per-person charge.

• 2. A bounty for captured enemy combatants at sea: This refers to a payment made by a government to the crew of a naval vessel for capturing enemy combatants at sea during wartime. This payment was typically distributed among the officers and crew, similar to how prize money (from captured enemy ships) was shared.

  • Example A: During the Napoleonic Wars, a British frigate successfully boarded and captured an enemy privateer, taking its entire crew prisoner. The British Admiralty would then pay a specific amount of head money to the frigate's crew for each enemy sailor captured alive.

    Explanation: This demonstrates head money as a government bounty paid to naval crews for taking enemy personnel prisoner during maritime engagements.

  • Example B: In a 17th-century conflict, a Dutch warship engaged and disabled a pirate vessel, capturing the pirates. The Dutch government would have awarded head money to the warship's crew for each pirate brought back for trial.

    Explanation: This example shows head money as a reward for capturing hostile individuals at sea, distributed among the capturing crew.

• 3. A tax on shipowners for immigrants: This was a specific tax historically imposed on shipowners for each immigrant they transported to the United States. This federal duty was designed to help fund immigration services and regulate the influx of new arrivals.

  • Example A: In the late 19th century, a shipping company operating transatlantic voyages from Ireland to New York would have been required to pay a set amount of head money to the U.S. government for every passenger it disembarked who was classified as an immigrant.

    Explanation: This illustrates head money as a per-person tax levied on the carrier (shipowner) for each immigrant brought into the country.

  • Example B: An early 20th-century vessel bringing Chinese laborers to San Francisco would have faced a federal head money charge for each individual immigrant on board upon arrival in the United States.

    Explanation: This shows the application of head money as a duty paid by shipowners for each immigrant transported, contributing to the regulation of immigration.

• 4. Historically, a bounty for killing outlaws: This refers to a reward or bounty historically paid to an individual for killing a notorious criminal or outlaw, with the requirement of presenting the criminal's head as proof. This practice is now obsolete and considered barbaric.

  • Example A: In a frontier town in the American Old West, a wanted poster for a notorious bank robber might have offered a substantial sum of "head money" to anyone who could bring in the outlaw, dead or alive, with the implied (or explicit) requirement of proof of death, such as the head.

    Explanation: This exemplifies head money as a historical bounty for killing an outlaw, with the gruesome requirement of the head as evidence.

  • Example B: During a period of widespread banditry in 16th-century Europe, a local lord might have offered a reward to peasants for eliminating a particularly troublesome bandit leader, specifying that the bandit's head must be presented to claim the "head money."

    Explanation: This illustrates the historical and brutal nature of head money as a reward for killing criminals, requiring physical proof of the kill.