Americans? Doing What? Again?

The year is 1791. The declaration has been signed. A war has been won, and America is a new country learning the ropes of being a new country. War was expensive and the country already has a mountain of debt that needs climbing so George Washington turns to taxes and to a business he knows well.

At this time, George Washington has his own distillery and is well aware of the power of a tax on alcohol production. The tax was based on the capacity of the stills rather than volume of alcohol produced but this meant that the impact of the tax differed greatly between the larger distilleries in the east and the poorer farm distilleries in the west. 

For the larger distilleries, with larger stills, the tax was six cents per gallon whereas the farmers had a tax of nine cents. On top of this, the wealthier owners had far lower transport costs and could sell their whiskey and grain much more easily and cheaply. As a result of this difference, the farmers in the west simply decided not to pay the tax. Rebellion! 

The rebellion lasted 3 years where taxes weren’t paid and tax collectors were often tarred and feathered through the streets. In open rebellion against the government, nothing that Washington tried to do to appease the protestors worked. And in July of 1794, violence broke out. In Pittsburgh, 400 rebels armed with fire and pitchforks torched the house of the regional tax supervisor. 

After this and numerous other acts of farmer violence, 13,000 men under the command of General Lee alongside Hamilton and Washington, swept through the state arresting all those involved with the rebellion. Many fled and little violence took place, 150 men were arrested, but only 2 men were found guilty. But, this demonstration of strength from the government ended the rebellion and the taxes were paid. It was over!

The tax only lasted for another 8 years before Thomas Jefferson went on to repeal it, however in this time, many distilleries went further west to escape the tax collectors and many more distilleries were formed. Whiskey boomed and became one of the largest industries for the next century.