The Whiskey Rebellion rocked the newly-formed United States in the 1790s. Following victory in The Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the United States government, headed by George Washington, found itself in significant debt to those who had funded the war against the British. To try and recoup some losses, The Whiskey Tax was imposed. However, this was anything but a simple implementation. In fact, the tax brought the United States back to the brink of war.
If you would like to read an in-depth history of The Whiskey Rebellion, you can do so here. However, in this article, I thought I would run down six of the most interesting facts about The Whiskey Rebellion.
1. Alexander Hamilton Was Responsible For The Whiskey Tax That Caused The Rebellion
Broadway, award-winning musical aside, Alexander Hamilton was an unpopular figure amongst the citizens of the newly-formed United States in the 1790s.
It was Hamilton, Treasury Secretary, who proposed The Whiskey Tax in order to make money to pay back the nation’s debts. He was confident that the tax would bring in around $800,000 dollars per year for the government. After all, whiskey was plentiful in the United States thanks to the Irish and Scottish immigrants who began new lives in the US and brought with them their distilling practices.
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Whilst Hamilton was pleased with his new tax, which was written into law in 1791, US citizens on the Western Frontier were outraged.
2. Poor Families Were Affected The Most By The Whiskey Tax
Those living on the Western Frontier were hit hard by The Whiskey Tax. At that time, there was not a lot of cash flowing through the area, which was cut off from the capital (then Philadelphia, PA) by the Appalachian mountains. As a result, a barter economy had emerged, of which whiskey was a big part.
Citizens would, rather than carrying heavy grain to the capital to sell, distill the surplus grain into whiskey to trade amongst themselves. Most homes in the state had a still.
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The tax was required to be paid in cash (which was very scarce), and meant that every still had to be registered and taxed. One of the most aggravating factors was the unfair targeting of small producers, which were usually stills inside a family home. These stills were taxed at a higher rate than larger stills owned by manufacturers. As such, poor families were left to suffer without any means to barter for food.
The tax, therefore, was not at all representative of those living outside the capital.
3. The Whiskey Rebels Wanted To Ally Themselves With The Revolutionary French
The rebels that gathered in the wake of the tax, who called themselves The Whiskey Boys, began quietly opposing the tax through refusal to pay or register stills. This, however, did not have much effect. And so, tensions soon escalated.
Realizing the need to politicize the rebellion, citizens called an assembly to act as their own Congress. In this assembly, there was talk of calling upon the Revolutionary French for aid.
At this time, the French were in the middle of the Reign of Terror. The French had recently established the First Republic, following their own successful revolution against the French monarch, Louis XVI and his Queen Marie Antionette. The civilian assembly noted that the French would be invaluable allies. There was even talk of annexation into Imperial Spain.
Although these ideas never came to fruition, they demonstrated how desperate the rebels were for the government in Philadelphia to recognize their plight.
4. It Is Believed That Only Five People Were Killed In The Whiskey Rebellion
Despite the eventual amassing of forces on both sides (approx. 7,000 rebels, and approx. 13,000 officers), it is believed that the death toll of The Whiskey Rebellion sits at around three to five people.
We know that at least two rebels were killed at The Battle of Bower Hill in July 1794, and it is thought that two more were killed by officers in September of that same year. No government soldiers are thought to have been killed other than by illness or accidents. However, the death toll is not truly known.
What is known is that the opposing forces did not engage when The Whiskey Rebellion reached its climax in Pittsburgh in September. In fact, the rebels backed down when they saw the size of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton’s advancing forces.
5. The Whiskey Tax Was Repealed In 1802
Following the fallout from The Whiskey Rebellion (which included an occupation of Pittsburgh by Hamilton, multiple arrests, and pardons from Washington in 1795) the Whiskey Tax remained written into law until 1802. However, during this time it remained extremely difficult to enforce.
As such President Thomas Jefferson, who assumed office the previous year, accepted defeat on behalf of Alexander Hamilton and repealed the tax.
Alexander Hamilton famously died two years later in a duel with his old foe, Aaron Burr.
6. Some Distillers In America Hang Portraits of Alexander Hamilton Upside-Down
Occasionally, when exploring the distilleries of the Southern United States, you might stumble across a portrait of Alexander Hamilton hanging upside-down. This practice is a lasting legacy of The Whiskey Rebellion. It was first used during Hamilton’s occupation of Pittsburgh when, on his orders, 150 men and boys were arrested overnight to quell Hamilton’s fury at the opposition to his tax.
The hanging of Hamitlon’s portrait upside down was a sign of hatred and a quieter form of rebellion. Some distilleries in the United States still display upside-down portraits, as a sign of solidarity with the distillers that came before them.
The Legacy of The Whiskey Rebellion
I am not from the United States, so I cannot speak to how much emphasis is given to The Whiskey Rebellion in the school system over there. However, my research has led me to believe that the rebellion, as a whole, is skimmed over slightly in the teaching of American history.
Its legacy, however, cannot be overstated. The Whiskey Rebellion was in many ways the first real challenge for the fledgling United States. An all-out war could have caused irreparable damage to the new state. It is a fascinating part of American history.
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