Whisky Rebellion Significance
What was the Whiskey Rebellion and what is meaning?
The new federal government, at the request of the first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, assumed the debt of the states of the American Revolutionary War. In 1791 Hamilton convinced Congress to approve taxes on distilled spirits and carriages. Hamilton reasons that taxes were several: he wanted to pay the national debt, but justified the tax "more as a measure of social discipline than as a source of income. "[1] But more importantly, Hamilton" wanted the tax imposed to advance and secure the power of the new federal government. "[2] This was the first time under the new Constitution of the United States that the federal government used military force to exert authority over the citizens of the nation. Also was one of only two times that a President personally commanded the army in the field. (The other after President James Madison fled the British occupation Washington, DC during the War of 1812.) The military suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion set a precedent that the U.S. citizens who wish to change the law had to do in a peaceful manner through constitutional means, otherwise the government would meet any threats to disturb the peace with force.
George Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion (clip)