What exactly was the “Whiskey Rebellion”?
If you’re like me … you may remember studying about the Whiskey Rebellion in school. The general impression that I garnered was that, apparently a lot of drunks around our area didn’t feel like paying an extra penny for a glass of whiskey, so they rebelled against the tax by beating up government officials. This is not accurate. Here’s a concise rundown on what happened and why … On March 3rd, 1791, the Congress in Philadelphia passed the federal excise tax on whiskey. However, farmers on the western frontier (Bedford to Pittsburgh area), didn’t have currency to pay a tax. They would boil their grains down to whiskey because it was easier to transport this “cash crop” than the grains themselves. To these farmers, whiskey was their money. They could trade for furs, salt, meat, etc. So, when tax collectors came around, these farmers refused to pay. The farmers didn’t believe that the government had a right to “steal” money that they themselves had earned. They beat the tar out of tax
