Whiskey Rebellion Timeline

A new U.S. federal government began operating in 1789 after ratification of the United States Constitution, creating the institutional framework through which national taxation and enforcement would be organized.

Image source: Federal government of the United States

Congress approved fiscal measures in June and July 1790 as the federal government worked to address the war debt inherited from the American Revolutionary War.

By December 1790, Alexander Hamilton believed import duties, then the government's primary source of revenue, had been raised as high as feasible. He therefore supported additional internal taxation.

Image source: Alexander Hamilton

The Northwest Indian War was going badly for the United States, with major losses in 1791. The military setbacks formed part of the broader national context surrounding the new tax.

Image source: Northwest Indian War

Although the tax applied to all distilled spirits, rapidly expanding consumption of American whiskey caused the measure to become widely known as the whiskey tax.

The Whiskey Excise Act, also known as the Whiskey Act, became law in March 1791. It imposed an excise on distilled spirits to generate revenue for paying Revolutionary War debt.

Following petitions and continued opposition, the excise law was modified in May 1792, though resistance to the tax did not end.

At William Findley’s urging, Congress modified the law on June 5, 1794, allowing excise trials to be held in local state courts.

Western Pennsylvania had a population of approximately 75,000 in 1790, forming the substantial frontier population among which resistance to the excise later developed.

Because of violent attacks on collectors and officials, the excise went largely uncollected in 1791 and early 1792.

A preliminary meeting at Redstone Old Fort in Fayette County called for selecting delegates to a more formal assembly concerning resistance to the excise.

Delegates convened in Pittsburgh in early September 1791 after the Redstone Old Fort meeting, organizing opposition to the whiskey tax.

Robert Johnson, a recently appointed tax collector, was tarred and feathered by a disguised gang in Washington County. The attack demonstrated the coercive tactics used against tax officials.

A second convention met in Pittsburgh in August 1792 to discuss resistance to the whiskey tax.

Tax official John Neville rented a room in Pittsburgh for his tax office in August 1792, but the landlord expelled him after threats from the Mingo Creek Association.

Resistance to the excise continued through 1793 in frontier counties of Appalachia, despite federal efforts to enforce the tax.

On the night of November 22, 1793, men broke into the home of tax collector Benjamin Wells in Fayette County, continuing the intimidation of revenue officials.

The resistance came to a climax in 1794, when opposition to the excise escalated into an open challenge to federal authority.

Thirty men surrounded the home of William McCleery, the local tax collector in Morgantown, Virginia, on August 9, 1794, in retaliation for the new whiskey taxes.

A liberty pole was raised in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1794, symbolizing opposition to federal authority and the excise.

In 1792, Hamilton advocated military action to suppress violent resistance in western North Carolina. Attorney General Edmund Randolph argued that evidence was insufficient to legally justify such a response.

In September 1792, Washington sent Pennsylvania tax official George Clymer to western Pennsylvania to investigate resistance to the excise.

Washington signed a proclamation on September 15, 1792, warning against resistance to federal law. It was published as a broadsheet and printed in many newspapers.

During the 1794 response, Daniel Morgan was promoted to major general and became associated with command of federal forces sent against the resistance.

After the uprising was suppressed, Morgan commanded the remnant of the army that remained in Pennsylvania until 1795. The force numbered about 1,200 militiamen, including Meriwether Lewis.

In early August 1794, Washington dispatched three Pennsylvanians to the west as commissioners: Attorney General William Bradford, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Jasper Yeates, and Senator James Ross.

On August 4, 1794, Justice James Wilson delivered his opinion that western Pennsylvania was in a state of rebellion, satisfying the legal condition needed for federal militia action.

Washington issued a proclamation on August 7, 1794, as the federal government moved toward suppressing the insurrection and warned participants against continued resistance.

On September 24, 1794, Washington received a recommendation from the commissioners concerning the condition of western Pennsylvania and the government's response.

The insurrection collapsed as the federal army marched west into western Pennsylvania in October 1794.