RSS Feed MenuToday – September 24th – marks the day in 1794 when President Washington ordered the militia out to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion.
The Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Insurrection was a popular uprising that had its beginnings in 1791 and culminated in an insurrection in 1794 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Monongahela Valley. During George Washington’s presidency, the government decided to tax whiskey in order to pay off the national debt. This infuriated the citizenry and led to the Whiskey Rebellion.
The militia force of 12,950 men was organized, roughly the size of the entire army in the Revolutionary War. Under the personal command of Washington, Hamilton, and General Henry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee, the army assembled in Harrisburg and marched to Bedford, Pennsylvania the site of Washington’s headquarters, then on to western Pennsylvania (to what is now Monongahela) in October of 1794.
According to Jefferson, the rebels “could never be found,” but the militia expended considerable effort rounding up 20 prisoners, clearly demonstrating Federalist authority in the national government. The men were imprisoned, where one died, while two were convicted of treason and sentenced to death by hanging. Washington, however, pardoned them on the grounds that one was a “simpleton,” and the other, “insane.”
George Washington
This marked the first time under the new United States Constitution that the federal government used military force to exert authority over the nation’s citizens. It was also one of only two times that a sitting President personally commanded the military in the field; the other was after President James Madison fled the British occupation of Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812.
Alexander Hamilton: Banker, Federalist, and second-rate duelist
"Lighthorse Harry" Lee, Revolutionary War hero and father of Confederate General Robert E. Lee
Originally posted at Stormbringer.
Observer // Sep 24, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Always an intriguing event, and one I’ve continually kicked myself to learn more about and forgotten to. Thanks for noting the anniversary.
marxst1 // Sep 24, 2009 at 2:16 pm
While the rebels were never found, the rebel organizers swore that there were close to 2 million there, and they criticized the Federal Government for not having more public horses and carriages available which cut down thier number.
Observer // Sep 24, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Odd, most of the marxists I’ve met are actually pretty witty. Why so different?
marxst1 // Sep 24, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Gee, jafo (hope you don’t mind me using your full name), seriously? Rehash a 15 year old irc comeback meme? Channeling some Shecky Green, perhaps? Was it a great joke? of course not/ You try do some Whiskey Rebellion humor. See how far you get. Originally I was thinking something along the lines of the rebellers not showing up because they we’re sleeping it off… but I thought this might reach out to broader crowd… thank god the internet has you here to be the arbiter of taste and humor. (pssst: stay away from reddit.com… your head will aspload!)…
I’ve seen your other posts around articles on this site. You seem like a reasonable and intelligent person. I hope we can be friends.
bm // Sep 25, 2009 at 4:31 am
Good to be reminded that our original conservative Founding Fathers believed in a strong central government and had no problems with raising taxes to pay off the national debt – something that is also very much in our futures.
The Whiskey Rebellion: All They Wanted was a Value Added Tax // Sep 25, 2009 at 6:58 am
[...] All They Wanted was a Value Added Tax September 25th, 2009 at 6:58 am by Bruce Bartlett | No Comments | [...]
Observer // Sep 25, 2009 at 8:55 am
Marx, the jafo reference isn’t even klicking, so you must have mistaken me for some other observer.
No problem on the rebellion joke because I admit I’ve been trying to think of a suitable whiskey joke for ten minutes now and it’s just not coming to me either.
Civil War jokes – now, those are easier…