Jared Frederick: Taxes. Few words in
the English language evoke such testy responses.
For some, taxation is seen as
unnecessary civic responsibility to
provide infrastructure and public services.
For others, taxes are
symbolic of wasteful government overreach.
These debates are nothing new to American society.
After all, the Revolutionary War was rooted in colonists
anger against taxation
without representation in parliament.
But fewer citizens today are aware of
another tax dispute that erupted in Pennsylvania,
following America's victory over Great Britain.
This fierce uprising, known as the Whiskey Rebellion,
stands among the first of
many internal growing pains
endured by the infant United States.
Once standing local customs were challenged,
neighbors turned on neighbors,
federal forces intervened in
regional affairs and the risks were a mess.
The constitution became the official framework
of the young United States in 1788.
The new national government sought to resume
all war debts accrued by
the 13 states during the revolution.
This strategy was chiefly promoted by Alexander Hamilton,
the first Secretary of the Treasury.
Whereas Founding Father Thomas Jefferson envisioned
a nation of virtuous, self-reliant farmers,
Hamilton aspired to forge a country fueled by
industry exports and government collaboration.
The two men engaged in fierce rhetorical battles
with slanderous partisan news outlets backing them up.
Sound at all familiar?
Reluctant to raise high taxes already on the books,
Hamilton set his sights on
whiskey manufacturers as a fresh stream of revenue.
His intention was to tax not the sale of whiskey,
but it's very production.
Not anticipating the hostilities to follow,
congress passed the excise whiskey tax of 1791.
It's ripple effects would be
far-reaching and insight violent division.
Farmers of Western Pennsylvania
had feared such a move for years.
In the western part of the Commonwealth,
grain cultivation was a pillar of commerce.
Whiskey had multiple applications beyond merry making,
and everybody of all ages drank it, even children.
Furthermore, whiskey was a form of currency used to
pay off laborers and contract employees in rural areas.
All in all, the alcoholic spirits were
easier and more lucrative to transport than raw grain.
The excise tax appended that tradition,
and there'd be held to pay.
Settler families felt nothing less than betrayed.
No longer could distillers afford to ship
their goods through the Allegheny Mountains
to larger markets.
Many accused President George Washington of embracing
the same oppressive tactics
used by parliament years prior.
Had Americans merely replaced
King George III with King George I?
This regressive tax had the potential of ruining
the barter system that defined frontier life.
Fuel was poured on the fire when word was announced that
tax evaders would be tried in
state courts rather than local courts.
At this desperate, Pennsylvania farmers
lashed out against collectors,
tarring and feathering them in certain instances.
The protesters, many of
whom served in the American Revolution,
formed anti-malicious and now found themselves
at odds with the very nation they helped create.
The feud reached fever pitch in July 1794.
John Neville, a local property owner and tax collector,
helped serve Ritz alongside of federal marshal.
Consequently, an angry mob assembled at his residence.
In an agitated state of self-defense,
Neville shot one of the assailants.
A detachment of soldiers coming to
Neville's aid further inflamed the armed standoff,
resulting in several participants being killed.
The soldiers eventually capitulated
and the home was burned.
By August of 1794,
the mob grew into the thousands.
The insurgents planned a match on
Pittsburgh in a dramatic show of force.
President Washington ultimately decided to
counter the protesters by mobilizing
his own military force of
some 13,000 federalized militia.
The troops [inaudible] in Carlisle,
likely on the grounds of what is now Dickinson College.
There Washington reviewed his troops.
This was the only time in
American history when a sitting president
dawned a uniform to take
active command of troops in the field.
That October, Washington's forces pushed west to Bedford.
There the president occupied
the stone house of David SB,
which still stands today.
He recognized his federalized troops were
not going to encounter fierce resistance by the rebels.
The defiance of the protesters had
withered in the face of Washington's advance.
They scattered into the hills and their homes.
The Whiskey Rebellion had at last ended.
But what did it all mean?
Was this merely a backwood squabble over money,
or were there larger issues at play?
Ultimately, Washington's suppression of
the uprising upheld the supremacy
of the federal government.
The incident also lead to
significant questions about the nature of protest,
freedom of speech, and
citizens relationship with the state.
Despite Hamilton's desire to harshly punish the rebels,
only two were convicted of treason.
They were thereafter partened by Washington,
who wished to calm the waters of national discord.
The excise tax however,
remained the law of the land until it was
repealed by Thomas Jefferson in 1802.
The legacies of the Whiskey Rebellion are all around us,
especially as we consider our role
as taxpayers and active citizens.
In Pennsylvania the event is commemorated with museums,
historical markers, themed taverns,
and even community festivals.
But these innocent means of Remembrance
should never conceal the dangers that
existed in the moment when Pennsylvanians went to
war with their fellow citizens over politics.
When contemplating the then or the now,
we're also reminded of a
constant in the Commonwealth history.
Pennsylvanian's love a good stiff drink.
To learn more about this volatile time,
checkout William Hogeland's book,
The Whiskey Rebellion, George Washington,
Alexander Hamilton and the frontier rebels
who challenged America's new found sovereignty.
We'll see you next time on
Past PA. Until then, stay curious.