Whiskey Rebellion Research Paper

Meaning when a tax is placed on a certain item, whiskey, in this demand model the producer, the farmers, would pay most of the tax. At the time the federal government saw whiskey as a luxury and so placed the tax on the distillers, raising the price of production in return decreasing the amount produced. They saw they could pay off their debt, by taxing the whiskey, and the producers of whiskey would pay for the debt for them. Therefore, the National debt incurred during the Revolutionary war and, the supply and the demand of whiskey are related. It was shown that only the distillers who produced less would pay more because of the tradeoff of equity end efficiency, meaning that because of the debt from the war, the government needed a way to pay for the debt and taxed whiskey. Concluding that the supply and demand elasticities of whiskey are completely due to the taxation put on the whiskey to pay for the

Slaughter divides The Whiskey Rebellion into three principal sections entitled Context, Chronology, and Consequence. The first section begins with a comprehensive assessment of the anti-excise tradition which follows late seventeenth-century British philosophy and traces its progression from Walpole's excise battle in 1733, through the Stamp Act crisis of 1764 and on through the Anti-Federalist account of the tax provisions of the Constitution of 1787. In the second section, Slaughter details the debate over the excise, its implementation and the outbreak of both peaceful and violent opposition to it; opposition that occurred not only in Pennsylvania but along the entire frontier. In his final section, and with a trace of personal bias, Slaughter describes the outbreak of violence in the summer of 1794 for which he holds John Neville largely accountable. Slaughter continues in the final section with Hamilton and Washington deciding to make an example of western Pennsylvania despite the fact that the excise had gone uncollected all along the frontier, and the Watermelon Army fiasco which the Federalists

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries colonial America experienced a number of rebellions by various groups for a variety of reasons. The protests took place in Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York. Each protest began for a different reason, however, all involved the discontent that some groups underwent in the colonies. Some of the most notable rebellions include Bacon's Rebellion, The Regulator Uprising, Leislor's Rebellion, Culpepper's Rebellion, and the Paxton Boys Uprising.

Towards the end of the 16th century, the United States government experienced continuous changes in laws(taxes) and several problems(battling and removal of Indians) associated with westward expansion. Conflict was created in response to the rising taxes issued by the government on goods such as whiskey. Most affected by the heavy taxation were the creators and distributors of whiskey - the average poor white farmer. An incident that occurred in 1794 involving enraged farmers in western Pennsylvania, threatened the tax collectors lives as well as the authority of the government. This incident came to be known as the Whiskey Rebellion.

There were many rebellions in the United States history, some peaceful and some violent. Shays' Rebellion in 1786 and the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 are examples of two brutal rebellions that led to death of many innocent people. Rebellions can develop due to many conditions including unfair laws, unfair treatment, and a disagreement over a sensitive topic. The Shays' Rebellion showed the Articles of Confederation was too weak, while the Whiskey Rebellion proved the Constitution to be a strong framework of government.

Beecher and Willard established schools for women in Connecticut, Ohio and New York (Lapsansky 276). Women started using their voice to gain support from the society not only in the school reforming movement but also the temperance movement. The temperance movement focused on reducing the use of alcoholic beverages. Since the widespread use of alcohol occurred, it led to many social problems such as crimes, disease, poverty, violence and a separation of a family relationship. The response to these temperance problems was the creation of the American Temperance Society that had thousands of people from several states took part in. The Society quickly developed and spread across the country. Many reformers tried different ways to prevent people

In 1791, under the advisement of Alexander Hamilton, congress passed the whiskey tax. This tax, put a twenty-five percent tax on whiskey. Hamilton created this tax in hopes of the federal government gaining more money to help pay of the nation’s debt. However, in doing so, this angered many people, especially farmers in western Pennsylvania, because they distilled the extra grain they had to make whiskey and sell it to make extra income. These small operations in western Pennsylvania rebelled by erecting liberty poles and taring and feathering tax collectors. George Washington, who was president during this time, saw the outburst and decided to take action against the angered farmers. Washington gathered about 13,000 men from the militia to put an end to this rebellion. In doing so, Washington showed that the government help the power over the citizens. In The Whiskey Rebellion, by Thomas Slaughter, he describes different consequences that arise from the whiskey tax. Slaughter presents three main points, which include conflicts between the east and west, two political systems that begin to develop, and the actual rebellion.

Following the American Revolution, the American nation and states were faced with enormous amounts of debt. To resolve the economic hardships the new nation had been experiencing, leaders turned to taxation as a source of income to resolve debts. Those who lived in the backcountry, which was isolated from society, were often shocked by the newly imposed taxes and most times resented them. Their resentment in relation to the taxes sparked protests and led to large scale rebellions to express their grievances to the government. Both Shay's rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion were similar in their causes and purpose but they differed in consequences and their significance.

     The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 helped bring about the demise of the aristocratic Federalist Government in favor of the democratic Republican Government, concerned with the needs of all of its citizens.

Hamilton was able to persuade Congress into passing a twenty-five percent tax increase on such products. This did not go over all too well in the west, especially concerning small farmers in Pennsylvania. At the time, farmers processed their corn and grain into whiskey, since it was less complicated to transport their crops in liquid form rather than in bulk. Whiskey was also used as barter at this time. In retaliation to this tariff, farmers took it upon themselves to harass the federal tax collectors, and showed their hostility and disdain by stopping judicial proceedings. In response to this, Congress attempted to lift the most severe proclamations of the levy, but this was to no avail in the farmers' eyes. Since a majority of the farmers' used the barter system, they simply could not come up with the money necessary to pay the tax. Their vexation mostly stemmed from their belief that the "unresponsive government" lacked to "understand the hardships they faced" since the government quite clearly did not grasp the concept of a deficiency of affluence (Encyclopedia of American History: Revolution and New Nation, 1761 to 1812). Throughout 1771 to 1773, the farmers' resistance was noticeable although not yet notable until 1774, where they then decided to handle the complication themselves.

Shays Rebellion began because of the economic depression, insufficient harvests, and high duties, lead to farmers being seized and thrown in jail if they were unable to pay their taxes. This angered a large group in Massachusetts and a man named Daniel Shay, a Revolutionary war veteran, to arrange protests against the government. The Whiskey rebellion was triggered when George Washington's government placed a tax on distilled alcohol and whiskey. Protesters showed their discontent by tarring and feathering revenue officers, similar to those during the anti-stamp act days. Although both rebellions were challenging the government, Shay's Rebellion revealed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation as the national government could not tax, enforce laws or raise money for an army. Already weakened by the Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation could not defend against the rebellion. Unlike the outcome of Shays rebellion, George Washington lead an army of militia to immediately put down the rebellion which lead to his government being strengthened and gaining respect.

By late 1791, President Washington and his administration had created districts, and assigned revenue collectors, and inspectors. All that needed to happen now was to start collecting the whiskey revenue. This, however, is when the problems started.

In 1791, congress had placed a federal tax on whiskey to help get rid of the national debt the consisted of $54 million. Whiskey was extremely valuable for it was an all purpose liquor used by many. So in 1794 thousands of pennsylvanian farmers in opposition to the tax got together and rebelled against federal law, and eventually George Washington had to send in enforcement and peace commissioners.

The Whiskey Rebellion was a tax protest in the U.S that taxed all whiskey products. The President that help set this was George Washington and was the first tax on a product by a new federal government. This tax helped the country's financial problems but the government faced problems like rebellions. The farmers and people rebelled because they felt the tax was unjust and unfair toward them. The government and President Washington responded to this by sending 12,000 soldiers and troops to make farmers stop rebelling. The government showed their power by overpowering the rebellions to help fund national debt. The Federalist party lost support of the people but the lawmakers were happy with the tax because it helped pay off debt. Both The Louisiana Purchase and the Whiskey Rebellion had choices made by the government and the Presidents to help better the government and people for a greater and stronger

The whiskey rebellion was a citizen revolt against a 1791 tax on whiskey. The reaction to the 1794 uprising in Pennsylvania demonstrated the determination of the US to enforce Federal laws. The militias of several states, under the personal command of President George Washington, were used to end the insurrection. was intended to generate revenue for the war debt incurred during the Revolutionary War The tax applied to all distilled spirits, but American whiskey was by far the country's most popular distilled beverage in the 18th century, so the excise became widely known as a "whiskey tax". Farmers of the western frontier were accustomed to distilling their surplus rye, barley, wheat, corn, or fermented grain mixtures into whiskey. These farmers