The Whiskey Rebellion

The most troublesome domestic event during George Washington’s two terms as president was the Whiskey Rebellion. The root cause of this incident was the first ever internal tax issued by the federal government. Created by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, it taxed all domestically produced distilled spirits and went into effect in March 1791. This so-called whiskey tax was very unpopular with the Scotch-Irish farmers of western Pennsylvania who felt the tax unfairly targeted westerners and that their interests were not represented in Congress.