Causes And Effects Of The Whiskey Rebellion

Thousands of farmers took up arms against the enforcement of a federal law calling for an excise tax on distilled spirits. It began in 1794 and is known as the Whiskey Rebellion. It signifies the largest organized resistance in opposition of federal authority between the American Revolution and the Civil War. Several of the rebels of the Whiskey Rebellion were prosecuted for treason in what were the first such legal proceedings in the United States (Whiskey Rebellion). The idea of taxation without local representation, was the main controversial argument behind the unfairness of the tax, which was exactly what the Americans had previously fought over. The Revolutionary War had accumulated a colossal national debt. In 1791, the House approved

It began during the October of 1791 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Most of the resistance to the tax was refusing to pay the tax. However, in more drastic cases, resistance came in the shape of violence, generally towards excise tax officers who were selected to supervise the collection of the tax. By threatening anyone who would house the officers, numerous people made certain that excise officers didn’t create an office in their community or town (The Whiskey Rebellion). Tax collectors were shot at, beaten, tarred and feathered, humiliated, intimidated, and terrorized. Whether voluntary or involuntary, many tax officers left towns not long after they arrived. Soon, widespread resistance break out in the western provinces of most states, becoming so large the tax went uncollected in 1791 and 1792. The excise tax lay largely uncollected in western Pennsylvania by 1794, respect for federal authority was waning, and the national debt was rising (Whiskey Rebellion). Finally, once the rebellion came to a climax in 1794, the federal government took action. George Washington issued a proclamation for the rebels to disperse, while simultaneously, militias were being gathered from a number of colonies. As a result that many of the drafted men didn’t wish to join, the draft led to even more resistance to the government. However, they eventually succeeded in raising a large militia led by General Harry Lee, a menacing force to the Rebels (The Whisky