The whiskey rebellion

When the new American nation was born in 1789 and 11 states had founded the United States, it had to deal with financial problems due to the national debt resulting from the war. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, proposed an excise tax on "spirits distilled and appropriated in the United States" in January 1791. Congress passed the bill with the votes of the Federalists, although there was also opposition from anti-Federalists such as Thomas Jefferson.

These taxes were not a major problem for the large distilleries in the East. The taxes were based on the capacity of the stills, not the volume produced. Thus, the 6 cents per gallon that the distilleries with large stills had to pay was a trifle compared to the 9 cents per gallon for the farmers with small stills, but also only a small amount of alcohol. The large eastern distilleries did not have large transport and production costs and were able to increase their production.

For the small farm distilleries, the situation was different: distilling was not just a nice side business for the farmers: due to their geographical location, separated from the East by the Allegheny Mountains, they had great difficulty transporting their grain to market. It was a much more economical solution to distil the grain and sell it as whiskey. The farmers in the western part of Pennsylvania felt the ordinance was unfair and refused to pay the taxes.

The first meeting of farmers at Redstone Fort in July 1791 marked the beginning of organised resistance. The farmers not only refused to pay taxes, but began to humiliate the collectors. And they went even further: they assaulted and abused them; tarring and feathering was a favourite method. Resistance and rebellion continued for the next few years, and all proclamations and other attempts by Washington and his government failed to calm the situation. In July 1794, open violence broke out when about 400 rebels gathered near Pittsburgh and set fire to the home of the regional tax collector. George Washington's response was to call together the militia of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia. 13,000 men under the command of General Lee, the Governor of Virginia, supported by Hamilton and Washington himself, marched west.

By the time the militia reached Pittsburgh in November 1794, it was all over: the rebels had scattered. About 150 men were arrested and interrogated, but only 2 men were found guilty of treason. Even they were later pardoned by Washington.

The consistent and powerful demonstration of the federal government's strength through the deployment of militias almost as numerous as the army in the War of Independence had had an effect. Nipped in the bud - the Whiskey Rebellion was over.

Incidentally, the whiskey tax was abolished by President Thomas Jefferson in 1802.