The Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion was a widespread protest on a certain tax on whiskey during the presidency of George Washington.
Farmers that had previously converted their grain to the form of whiskey had to pay a new excise tax, part of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton's new economic policy to pay off war debts. Many of the farmers, being war veterans, were fighting for the same rights that they had been fighting for during the American Revolution, no taxation without local representation. Protesters used violence and intimidation towards those who collected the taxes, and eventually George Washington raised a Militia, but the rebels had all abandoned their rebellion before fighting ever broke out. The Whiskey Rebellion was most significant in that it demonstrated that the new federal government had the power and the willingness to suppress rebellions and act against those who did not recognize it's laws, a kind of test of power of the new federal government, as well as the first use of the Militia Act of 1792.
Farmers that had previously converted their grain to the form of whiskey had to pay a new excise tax, part of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton's new economic policy to pay off war debts. Many of the farmers, being war veterans, were fighting for the same rights that they had been fighting for during the American Revolution, no taxation without local representation. Protesters used violence and intimidation towards those who collected the taxes, and eventually George Washington raised a Militia, but the rebels had all abandoned their rebellion before fighting ever broke out. The Whiskey Rebellion was most significant in that it demonstrated that the new federal government had the power and the willingness to suppress rebellions and act against those who did not recognize it's laws, a kind of test of power of the new federal government, as well as the first use of the Militia Act of 1792.