FREE ESSAY ON WHISKEY REBELLION

WHISKEY REBELLION

In 1790 a new nation was on the rise. With the help of the French, the people of the
thirteen colonies of America had united together to defeat the greatest empire of the
world. This was the shining moment of America. Freedom was theirs, and this is what they
have been wanting since the pilgrims arrived almost two centuries before. They were now
going to take on an even greater task then fighting the British: establishing a system of
government that would be fair and that would be accepted throughout all of America. One
thing the founding fathers knew they had to do was establish a document that would unite
the states under one system of laws, so they would be a single country. The Articles of
Confederation were too weak and could not meet the demands the country as whole needed,
so they drafted a new constitution. This new constitution was a brilliant document that
expressed how there is no true sovereign power because the power ultimately lies in the
people. This document, created in the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, was to
become the foundation for our country and is still the chief document that the America of
today follows. Nevertheless, there were still some people opposed to this document. The
Anti-federalists, as they were called, believed that if the constitution was enacted then
the central government would become too powerful. They believed America would then become
a tyrannical government, which is what America fought so hard to get away from. The
anti-federalists said a bill of rights was needed to stop the national government from
being tyrannical. It was clear that this country would need a bill of rights, so one of
the main jobs of the first Congress was to create one. In 1789 twelve amendments were
approved by congress and by the end of 1791 they had been ratified by the states and had
become the Bill of Rights. They were the first ten amendments to the constitution, and
they prevented a national government from ever becoming too powerful. These documents
were the first of its kind. No other government had ever tried what they were going to
try. This constitution was holding the nation together. The 13 states were all different
in their own respects, and each one was like its own country. They would now have to
stick together too see if these new ideas would work.
After the American Revolution, the government was deep in debt. The Secretary of the
Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, proposed a bill that would stop the national debt from
growing or even reduce it. This bill, which was approved by both houses in the winter
session of Congress in 1791, put an excise tax on all spiritus fermenti, or whiskey. The
tax was an ad valorem tax that added twenty five percent to the value of whiskey.
Needless to say, this was not well accepted and the peoples' opposition to it would
become one of the first tests of power the new government would have to face.
The thing about this tax is that the amount that had to be paid varied with how much was
being produced. Large producers would only have to pay an annual tax of about six cents
per gallon because they produced so much. This price could also be reduced if they
created the whiskey in even larger quantities. On the other hand, there were also the
small producers, that were mostly farmers, who made whiskey because grain was very hard
to transport across the mountains, and making the grain into whiskey was much easier to
carry across the mountains and much more profitable. These smaller producers had to pay
around nine cents per gallon because they produced such small quantities. Also, the tax
was only payable in cash, which was not common in the frontier land where most of these
farmers were creating whiskey. For the large producers this tax was not so bad, but for
the small farmers this tax was tremendous for them, and it also gave those large
producers an advantage over the already small producers. The farmers not only saw the tax
as an excessive price on creating whiskey, but they saw this tax as an infringement on
their rights. With the creation of the constitution still fresh, they believed the
government was already abusing its power. They believed that this tax was discrimination
and that it would not help the economic welfare, but it would be harmful to it. The
farmers were also unhappy with the way the national government was representing the
people, so that made them more spiteful towards the tax. They wanted the Mississippi
River open for navigation and they wanted the Indian problems resolved, but the national
government was doing little about their grievances. Also, for many farmers, creating
whiskey was the only way they could make personal profits because whiskey was much more
profitable then crops. They relied on crops for food for themselves and family, and they
relied on whiskey to make money. With this perspective in mind, the farmers refused to
give up their personal money to the government. There was only one thing to do, which
they had a lot of experience doing, and that was rebel, and not pay. 
Shortly after the rebellions started and the farmers were withholding pay, Virginia and
North Carolina repealed the tax. The tax continued in other states though. Soon, not only
were people not paying the tax, but also some were resorting to violence. The only way
the tax could be collected was from an excise officer who would collect it himself.
Usually he would have to set up an office in the area where he would be collecting. The
rebels would then threaten the officer that if he moved into the area to collect the tax,
that he would be dealt with accordingly. These threats would usually discourage the tax
collector from setting up his office. The most infamous example of these threats happened
in July of 1794. An angry mob of farmers, displease about the tax, approached John
Neville's house, who was a tax collector. There was a shootout between the mob and John
Neville and his slaves. Neville was able to escape but Oliver Miller, who was a rebel,
was shot and killed. The remaining rebels raided his house and stole mail from a
postmaster leaving town to find out who was for and who was against the rebellion. The
next day the commander of the local militia of that town, James McFarlane, was killed
which meant this rebellion would not end peacefully. 
President George Washington knew something had to be done in order to stop the rebellion.
He tried to negotiate, and he issued a proclamation saying all resistance must end by
September if 1794, but nothing would work. He then called for a militia from four
neighboring states, and he raised an army of about 12,950 to suppress the rebellion.
Outraged by this, the people of western Pennsylvania decided to choose their own
assembly. Each county was to choose between three and five representatives and those
representatives were to bring the demands of the county to the assembly. Famous men
involved in these assemblies were Hugh Henry Brackenridge and Albert Gallatin who were
the moderating force at these meetings and who prevented the radicals from dominating the
assemblies. Gallatin often spoke out about the mistake of open rebellion towards
government, and he delivered speeches that pacified the radicals. Despite what Gallatin
was doing, the government saw that participation brought guilt. On August 14th Washington
sent his army, referred to as the "watermelon army", to the region. The army had a list
of men who were considered the leaders and who were to be arrested. Luckily, the
rebellion was stopped and no real battle ensued and only twenty men were arrested, with
two being sentenced to death for treason. Many officials were unhappy with Washington's
decision to use force. Among them were republicans who thought this might be the first
step to absolute power. However, the federalists saw this as a victory for the country as
a whole. The national authority had triumphed over its first rebellious adversary and had
been able to unite the states in enforcing federal law. If the rebellion was successful
then the government would always be challenged, which could have led to thirteen
independent states instead of one unified country.
By November of 1794 Hamilton told Washington that the list of prisoners from the
rebellion had risen to about 150. Hamilton also informer Washington the rebels were no
longer an assembled force, but some small parties not really causing much damage. The
hype and rebellions slowly died down and on July 10, 1795 Washington issued a pardon to
those who were imprisoned, but not yet sentenced. Also, Washington had already pardoned
the two who were sentenced to death, and most of the people who were arrested were
already acquitted because of a lack of evidence. 
Because of this event, the new Federal Government asserted its rights over the individual
states, while also making the government more democratic and allowing the right of
dissent without committing treason. The states were able to unify as one to overcome a
challenge. This event showed that the constitution could indeed work, and that the
national government must posses some power in order for the country to stay as a whole.
This was just one obstacle that America would be faced with in its short history, but it
showed that a government whose intent is truly for the people and by the people can
survive and withstand any obstacles.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Slaughter, Thomas P. The Whiskey Rebellion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986
Specht, Elmer E. The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. Oct. 1999. Center for Advancement of
Paleo Orthodoxy. 23 Oct. 2000. 
Pike, John. Whiskey Rebellion. Dec. 1998. Federation of American Scientists. 23 Oct.
2000. 
Parker, Trishia. The Whiskey Rebellion. Cameron, Laurel. April 1999. North Park
University. 23 Oct. 2000