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.
Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how President Washington and the new federal government managed this crisis, and why it still matters today.
Images courtesy of National Gallery of Art, The New York Public Library, Library of Congress, Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, Wikipedia.
During George Washington’s two terms as President, arguably the most troublesome domestic event was the Whiskey Rebellion. This issue, the root of which was a tax that people refused to pay, threatened the stability of the country. More significantly, the crisis was a direct challenge to the authority of the recently approved Constitution and the federal government which stood behind it.