What was the Whiskey Rebellion?
The Whiskey Rebellion began with whiskey tax, which sparked a rebellion in West Pennsylvania that involved over 7,000 insurrectionists, lasting from 1791 to 1794. President George Washington responded to the rebellion by sending a 12,000 soldiers to Pennsylvania to confront the rebels, who disbanded without a single shot fired. The Whiskey Rebellion marked the first major challenge to federal authority in the young United States.
What Caused the Whiskey Rebellion?
Freedom from British rule had not come cheap; each colony had accrued significant debt during the Revolutionary War that remained on the books when the colonies became part of the United States. In his 1790 First Report on the Public Credit, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton argued for the “assumption” of this $25 million in outstanding debt by the Federal government. As long as the states held these debts, they would compete with the Federal government for both creditors’ dollars and for tax revenue. He faced stiff opposition in converting his plan into Congressional action, but eventually prevailed.
