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Posted on 05/11/2003 12:00:32 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 is regarded as one of the first tests of federal authority in United States history and of the young nation's commitment to the constitutional rule of law.  Acceptance of the excise tax varied with the scale of the production; large producers, who produced alcohol as a business venture, were more willing to accept the new tax. They could make an annual tax payment of six cents per gallon. A smaller producer, who only made whiskey occasionally, had to make payments throughout the year at a rate of about nine cents per gallon. Large producers could reduce the cost of the excise tax if they produced even larger quantities. Thus, the new tax gave the large producers a competitive advantage over small producers. The smaller producers, who were generally in the western counties, had a very different perspective of the tax. To them the tax was abhorrent. The frontier farmers detested the excise because it was only payable in cash, something rare on the western frontier. Due to the great effort required to transport any product over the mountains back to the markets of the East, farmers felt it made much more sense to transport the distilled spirits of their grain rather than the raw grain itself. The Whiskey Rebellion took place throughout the western frontier. There was not one state south of New York whose western counties did not protest the new excise with some sort of violence. Probably the biggest concern about the excise tax was the revenues from it would support a national government the western people felt was not representing them well. Their grievances involved resolving the Indian problems and opening the Mississippi River to navigation. "They were 'convinced that a tax upon liquors which are the common drink of a nation operates in proportion to the number and not to the wealth of the people, and of course is unjust in itself, and oppressive upon the poor.'" Without solving these problems the national government could expect no compliance to he excise law.  A tax collector is tarred and feathered during the rebellion People in the West resisted the excise tax with different attitudes. Most simply refused to pay the tax while others rebelled with violence. Excise officers received most of the fury from the rebels. Each officer was to open an office in his county of operation. The easiest form of non-payment was to prevent the excise officer from establishing an office in the county. To do this, rebels threatened anyone who offered to house the excise office. More often than not, the excise officer received threats to his well being. These threats were usually enough to discourage the officer from staying and trying to collect the tax. When an officer was brave enough to stay, the residents who opposed the tax committed such humiliations as tarring, feathering, and torturing the offender. This usually convinced the excise officer to leave the area. The residents of western Pennsylvania played a major role in the "Whiskey Rebellion." It was the violent reaction of the people in this area that compelled President George Washington to call 12,950 militia men to suppress the rebellion in 1794. The residents of western Pennsylvania not only threatened the excise tax collectors, they proceeded to carry out their threats. An angry mob marched on collector John Neville's house in Washington County, had a shoot out with him and his slaves, and eventually burned his home. Fortunately, Neville narrowly escaped the grasp of the crowd. Not only did this mob attack the tax collector but they also stole the mail from a post rider leaving Pittsburgh. The logic behind this action was to discover who in the local area opposed the rebels. This was a federal offense for which the rebels could be prosecuted. Their actions of civil disobedience should not be considered as totally without justification.  Albert Gallatin Since the people of western Pennsylvania felt they were not being well represented by Congress they decided to choose their own assembly. Each county was to choose between three and five representatives. These people were to bring the demands of their county to the assembly. Many of the representatives had ill feelings toward the national government. These people tried to push the residents of western Pennsylvania toward open insurrection. Men such as Hugh Henry Brackenridge and Albert Gallatin were the moderating force at these meetings and prevented the radicals from dominating the proceedings. Albert Gallatin's role was as a representative of the residents of Fayette County. As such he had to transmit the sentiment of the meetings even though he may have disagreed. Gallatin served as secretary and also delivered speeches that helped to pacify those radicals who were at the meetings. Often Gallatin delivered these speeches while radicals were in the crowd with their weapons in hand. Gallatin spoke about the mistake of open rebellion toward the government. Unfortunately for Gallatin, the government officials did not differentiate between the moderates and the radicals who took part in these meetings. Participation brought guilt as far as those in the government were concerned. In 1794 the militia called by Washington marched to dispel the rebels in western pennsylvania. They also brought a list of names of participants that certain members of the Presidential staff wanted arrested. This list included Brackenridge and Gallatin. Twenty rebels were arrested. Fortunately, Albert Gallatin was not among them. Of the twenty rebels arrested, none were found guilty. The fact that he was included on the list of rebels caused Albert Gallatin in later reflections to call his participation in the Whiskey Rebellion his "only political sin."  Alexander Hamilton Oil, by John Trumbull (1792); National Gallery of Art By November 17, 1794 Hamilton wrotes to Washington from western Pennsylvania that "the list of prisoners has been very considerably increased, probably to the amount of 150. . . . Subsequent intelligence shews that there is no regular assemblage of the fugitives . . . only small vagrant parties . . . affording no point of Attack. Every thing is urging for the return of the troops." And on November 19, 1794 Hamilton notified Washington that the army "is generally in motion homeward," leaving behind a regiment to maintain order. On July 10, 1795 Washington issued a pardon to those insurgents who were taken prisoner but were not yet sentenced or indicted. By this time, most had already been acquitted for lack of evidence.
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Of course Hamilton proposed a lot of things in place today. National bank and internal improvements among them. And to imagine that some praise Hamilton
I'm in and out, I still need to get a car wash and do some other things around here.
Hope you're having a good day.
......the powder magazine at Carlisle Barracks still stands on the grounds of the Army War College at Carlisle....it is made of stone with walls three feet thick....Freepers who enjoy this board would enjoy visiting the War College..... a wonderful museum is there dedicated to the great General Omar Bradley...my wife and I visited it two years ago and were deeply moved by the comments in the visitors sign-in book.....written in tremulous hand, old men from all over the country who served with Bradley still remember him with great affection...
Good luck to everyone!
Stonewalls
Alexander Hamilton Writes to Angelica Schuyler Church, 1794
From Special Collections, Alderman Library, University of Virginia.
Bedford Pensylvania
October 23. 1794
205 Miles Westwood of Philadelphia
I am thus far my dear Angelica on my way to attack and subdue the wicked insurgents of the West -- - But you are not to promise yourself that I shall have any trophies to lay at your feet. A large army has cooled the courage of those madmen & the only question seems now to be how to guard best against the return of the phrenzy.
You must not take my being here for a proof that I continue a quixot. In popular governments 'tis useful that those who propose measure should partake in whatever Dangers this may involve... Twas very important there should be no mistake in the management of the affair -- and I might contribute to prevent one. I wish to have every thing well settled for Mr. Church & you, that when you come, you may tread on safe ground. Assure him that the insurrection will do us a great deal of good and add to the solidity of every thing in this country. [illeg.] Say the same to Mr Jay to whom I have not time to write & to Mr Pinkney.
God bless [ you] Dear Sister & make you as happy as I wish you. Love to Mr. Church.
A. Hamilton
Mrs A Church
A somewhat notorious later work of Hamilton, supporting Pinckney and hostile to John Adams' election to the Presidency in 1800. Not only an important early election piece, which probably did help Jefferson gain the presidency, but a glimpse into the mind of the brilliant but egotistical Hamilton near the end of his career.
Hamilton, by himself, was not a leader for the population. After Adams became President, Hamilton constantly advised the members of the cabinet and endeavored to control Adams's policy. On the eve of the presidential election of 1800, Hamilton wrote a bitter personal attack on the president that contained confidential cabinet information. Although this pamphlet was intended for private circulation, the document was secured and published by Aaron Burr, Hamilton's political and legal rival. Based on his opinion of Burr, Hamilton deemed it his patriotic duty to thwart Burr's ambitions. Burr forced a quarrel and subsequently challenged Hamilton to a duel. The duel was fought at Weehawken on the New Jersey shore of the Hudson River opposite New York City. At forty-nine, Hamilton was shot, fell mortally wounded, and died the following day, July 12, 1804. It is unanimously reported that Hamilton himself did not intend to fire, his pistol going off involuntarily as he fell. Hamilton was apparently opposed to dueling following the fatal shooting of his son Philip in a duel in 1801. Further, Hamilton told the minister who attended him as he laid dying, "I have no ill-will against Col. Burr. I met him with a fixed resolution to do him no harm. I forgive all that happened." His death was very generally deplored as a national calamity.
Hamilton was the principal author of the series of essays called the "Federalist," written in advocacy of a powerful and influential national government, which were published in a New York journal under the signature of "Publius" in 1787-'8, before the adoption of the Federal constitution. There were eighty-five papers in all, of which Hamilton wrote fifty-one, James Madison fourteen, John Jay five, and Madison and Hamilton jointly three, while the authorship of the remaining twelve have been claimed by both Hamilton and Madison.
Fellow wicked insurgents and madmen caught up in the phrenzy, when has there been as good a read on government as The Federalist Papers, Hamilton, Madison, Jay, e.g., Penguin/Mentor, 1961, with foreword by Clinton Rossiter?
The dialectic of Jefferson-Hamilton was a powerful machine for forging a Republic (if we can keep it).
As for the revenuers, they are always with us--
Perhaps the only way to stay drunk and dodge taxes is at the wheel of a souped-up '53 Merc running white lightning.
Historical note: It wasn't for want of gun laws that Hamilton died at Burr's hand, but want of practice shooting.
QED: Gun control = ordnance on target.
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