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The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government. The "whiskey tax" became law in 1791 ...
- What Caused The Whiskey Rebellion?
- Whiskey Tax Violence
- Attack on Bower Hill
- Whiskey Rebellion Flag
- The Destruction of Bower Hill
- A Threat to Pittsburgh
- Washington Sends The Militia
- Why The Whiskey Rebellion Was Important
- Sources
During the American Revolution, individual states incurred significant amounts of debt. In 1790, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamiltonpushed for the federal government to take over that debt. He also suggested an excise tax on whiskey to prevent further financial difficulty. President George Washington was opposed to Hamilton’s suggestion of a whis...
The law was immediately a failure since refusals to pay the taxes were as common as intimidation against the officials hired to collect them. Excise officers sent to collect the tax were met with defiance and threats of violence. Some producers refused outright to pay the tax. Perhaps inevitably, violence broke out. On September 11, 1791, excise of...
In the summer of 1794, federal marshal David Lenox began the process of serving writs to 60 distillers in western Pennsylvania who had not paid the tax. On July 14, Lenox accepted the services of tax collector and wealthy landowner John Neville as a guide through Allegheny County. On July 15, they approached the home of William Miller, who refused ...
On the morning of July 16, Neville was asleep in his home, Bower Hill, when he was awakened by a crowd of angry men—some of whom had been served summons the previous day. The men claimed that Lenox needed to come with them because there was a threat to his life. Neville didn’t believe the men and ordered them off his property. When the mob refused ...
On July 17, 1794, as many as 700 men marched to drums and gathered at Neville’s home. They demanded his surrender, but Major James Kirkpatrick, one of 10 soldiers who had come to the property to help defend it, answered that Neville was not there. In fact, Kirkpatrick had helped Neville escape the house and hide in a ravine. The mob demanded that t...
Less than a week later, the mob met with local dignitaries who warned that Washington would send a militia to strike them down and they had to strike first. Wealthy landowner David Bradford, along with several other men, attacked a mail carrier and discovered three letters from Pittsburgh expressing disapproval of the attack on Neville’s property. ...
With signs that the rebels were hoping to reignite the conflict and believing it was linked to unrest in other parts of the country, Hamilton wanted to send troops to Pennsylvania, but Washington opted for a peace envoy instead. The peace envoy failed. Washington met with his cabinet officials and presented evidence of the violence to Supreme Court...
The federal response to the Whiskey Rebellion was widely believed to be a critical test of federal authority, one that Washington’s fledgling government met with success. The whiskey tax that inspired the rebellion remained in effect until 1802. Under the leadership of President Thomas Jefferson and the Republican Party (which, like many citizens, ...
The Whiskey Rebellion: Frontier Epilogue to the American Revolution. Thomas P. Slaughter. Failures of the Presidents. Thomas J. Craughwell. Whiskey Rebellion. National Park Service. Gallatin: A Voice of Moderation During the Whiskey Rebellion. National Park Service. About the Whiskey Rebellion Flag. Americanflags.com.
Aug 13, 2024 · The Whiskey Rebellion was a violent uprising of small farmers against a federal excise tax on liquor, that broke out in western Pennsylvania in 1794. It was suppressed by a federal militia army raised by President Washington.
Aug 7, 2024 · Whiskey Rebellion, uprising against the liquor tax in Pennsylvania in 1794 that was militarily quelled, though no battle ensued. A test for the new U.S. government, it was a triumph for national authority over its first rebellious adversary, winning the support of state governments in enforcing federal law.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Feb 29, 2020 · The Whiskey Rebellion was a political crisis in the early years of the United States, which was triggered when a tax on alcoholic spirits sparked a backlash among settlers on the western frontier of Pennsylvania.
Nov 22, 2020 · The Whiskey Rebellion was a tax revolt in Western Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1794, sparked by Alexander Hamilton’s whiskey excise tax, which disproportionately affected frontier farmers who relied on whiskey as a form of currency.
May 6, 2020 · Article. The Whiskey Rebellion. May 6, 2020 • Updated June 5, 2024. Just years after the successful American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America, rebellion occurred. This insurrection proved to be the first of many tests that the infant nation had to deal with.
