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Today In History August 1,1794 The Whiskey Insurrection
various | August 1,2010 | various

Posted on 08/01/2010 3:44:55 PM PDT by mdittmar

Considered as one of the most important events in America's early history, the Whiskey Rebellion began on March 3, 1791, when the U.S. Congress in Philadelphia passed a federal excise tax of seven cents per gallon on whiskey in an effort to pay off debts incurred by the Revolutionary War. While most Americans at that time felt negatively toward taxation, the intrepid farmers of Western Pennsylvania proved outright hostile to the idea.

Why Western Pennsylvania?

Because it was too difficult and costly to transport grain crops over the mountainous roads to larger Eastern markets, many frontier farmers converted their grain to whiskey, thereby increasing its value and marketability. The new excise whiskey tax ignored these necessities of pioneer life, however, leaving farmers with no means to pay the tax at the still long before a sale was made over the mountains to the east.

Resistance to the whiskey tax stretched from Western Pennsylvania, through the western frontiers of Virginia, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, with most farmers believing that a government which played little part in their frontier life had no right to steal money that they themselves had earned.

The Insurrection

On August 1,1794,events came to a head.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Education; History
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs
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To: txhurl
By the time I was 10 or 11 I could have told you where half a dozen stills were at any time. This was almost open country for kids then, we rambled wherever we wanted to, but it was unwritten law that you kept your mouth shut about some things.

When you stumbled across a still you kept your eyes on the ground and walked right on by. It was a price of freedom to ramble.

21 posted on 08/01/2010 5:56:03 PM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, A Matter Of Fact, Not A Matter Of Opinion)
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To: mdittmar
Photobucket
Sculptor Alan Cottrill covers his life size statue depicting three whiskey rebellion conspirators at the corner of South Main and Wheeling Streets in Washington Wednesday, July 28, 2010. The statue, one of six commissioned, will be placed along the National Road Heritage Corridor(US Route 40). A ceremony was held at noon Saturday, July 31, to unveil the statue.

22 posted on 08/01/2010 6:02:03 PM PDT by smoothsailing
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To: smoothsailing

Tar and feathers;)


23 posted on 08/01/2010 6:15:18 PM PDT by mdittmar (i)
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To: RegulatorCountry

Help me with some history please. Thought that washington led his army as commander in chief even though hed was not president?


24 posted on 08/01/2010 8:27:43 PM PDT by keving (We get the government we vote for)
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To: keving

The role of President didn’t exist yet, let alone combined with Commander in Chief of the military. It wasn’t a given that they would be, even at the Convention.


25 posted on 08/01/2010 10:11:49 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry
IIRC, the tax was a set amount per gallon, payable at the time of production. Since whiskey was cheaper West of the mountains, the frontier distillers were forced to pay a higher percentage in tax than those to the East. Washington himself was a large distiller of spirits and not long after the insurrection ended, became the largest in the U.S. Not long after he achieved that status, the tax was rescinded.
26 posted on 08/01/2010 10:33:40 PM PDT by Roccus (......and then there were none.)
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