The Whiskey Rebellion Of 1794
A little over twenty years after the Revolutionary War, American citizens were revolting against their new government
The young United States government needed revenue to function. The debt from the revolutionary war was crippling. The Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, proposed a tax on whiskey. Congress signed off on the tax in 1791.
“Residents viewed this tax as yet another instance of unfair policies dictated by the eastern elite that negatively affected American citizens on the frontier.” They claimed it was an abuse of federal authority. Thomas Jefferson agreed.
Revelers destroyed a tax inspector’s home in Pennsylvania in July 1794. The cause was growing. There was concern that the movement would expand to other states.
The government needed to show control, or it would not survive. Hamilton suggested that President Washington use military force. Washington had other ideas and sent negotiators. When that did not work, he did send in the 13,000 militia troops. The rebels fled before they arrived.
Thomas Jefferson, an anti-federalist, and Alexander Hamilton, a federalist, were at odds with each other about the role of the federal government. It is an argument that continues now.
