First Tax Rebellion of the United States: The Whiskey Rebellion Explained
116The 1791 Whiskey Rebellion was one of the largest rebellions that happened in the aftermath of the American Revolution. In it, taxes on Whiskey drove many farmers and supporters to rise up in arms against the government, and some even propose their own independent state. In today's episode, we will be covering the tale of the Whiskey Rebellion.
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Since the prior federal government was unable to levy taxes on the general populace. They instead had imposed some pretty high import duties, essentially taxes on imported material, and this was their main source of revenue. However, they were raised as high as they feasibly could be already, so an alternative was needed. Taxes as a whole were unpopular with the public, but, Hamilton figured that imposing a tax on distilled beverages produced in the US, would be the least politically detrimental of any to be implemented, labeling it as a luxury tax, and he managed to get support from individuals that wanted a so called sin tax on alcohol, to raise awareness of it's detrimental effects. While this wasn't a tax just on whiskey, whiskey was by far the most popular distilled beverage in the country, so it got known simply as the Whiskey Act. This act would go into effect in March of 1791, with it's first collection due on November of the same year.
This tax was immediately un-popular with people along the frontier, and the more rural parts in the western end of most states. Whiskey was a popular drink, and farmers often supplemented their incomes by operating small home stills. Farmers living west of the Appalachian Mountains distilled their excess grain into whiskey, which was easier and more profitable to transport over the mountains than the straight grain. A whiskey tax would make western farmers less competitive with eastern grain producers too, who had the ability to operate much larger stills. Additionally, cash was always in short supply on the frontier, so whiskey often served as an exchange good. For poorer people who were paid in whiskey, the excise was essentially an income tax that wealthier easterners did not pay. It was further worsened, that you either had to pay a flat fee, or a price per gallon. For the larger distillers that could operate year round, the flat fee was much cheaper, as they'd lose less money per gallon that made. For the smaller farmers though, both were a massive burden, as normally they were too poor to pay a flat fee, and the price per gallon could be upwards of 30% of what they could sell it for on the regular market. Other aspects of the law also caused concern. The law required all stills to be registered, and those cited for failure to pay the tax had to appear in distant Federal, rather than local courts. The only Federal courthouse was in Philadelphia, sometimes hundreds of miles away from these individuals homes. Other grievances for many of those on the frontier, only further worsened approval of the federal government. The North-west Native war was going poorly for the US at the time, with them suffering heavy loses all throughout 1791. The Spanish, who owned much of the land to the west of the frontier, had forbade those to use the Mississippi river to transport goods, heavily limiting trading and economic opportunities. The added Whiskey tax, just added more tension.
Opposition to the tax was immediate, originally pushing for it not to pass, then when that failed, went to the local communities to have it repealed within the region. Opposition to the tax was particularly prevalent in four southwestern counties, those being Allegheny, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland. A meeting was held by a handful of individuals at Pittsburgh in September of 1791, bringing together a list of complaints that was then sent to the Pennsylvanian state legislation and the US house of representatives. As a result of these petitions. The law was modified slightly, reducing the tax per gallon by one cent, and granting western Pennsylvania a US state representative. But it did little to quiet people's protest.