What did we have before the income tax?

Tythes. 10% of your worldly goods to the landlord / land owner / church.

Taxes existed since ancient times. In every era the tax system was adjusted to the way people obtained wealth. Farmers often deliver a certain part of their crops, milk, cheese or animals. In other system, they did not hand in a part of their crops, but a fixed amount of grain and meat. People living in towns in middle ages paid either a fixed amount of money depending on the number of chimneys in their house (a good indicator of how large the house was) or a part of their income. The main difference is that the taxes did not necesarily end up in the "national treasury". They were often paid to municipal authorities or local lords.

Tariffs were the largest source of federal revenue from the 1790s to the eve of World War I, until it was surpassed by income taxes.