Whiskey Rebellion

About Whiskey Rebellion

The Whiskey Rebellion of 1791 to 1794 was a protest against the first federal excise tax in the United States. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton proposed the whiskey tax to pay Revolutionary War debt. Western farmers distilled whiskey from surplus grain and saw the tax as unfair. Tax collectors were tarred and feathered. In 1794, President George Washington led 13,000 militiamen to western Pennsylvania to suppress the rebellion. The rebels dispersed before fighting. The Whiskey Rebellion established that the federal government had the power to enforce its laws, a critical test of the new Constitution. Some rebels moved west to Kentucky and Tennessee, expanding American whiskey production.