3 A meeting at Redstone Fort in July of 1791 began the organized resistance to the collection of the excise tax. 2Īlready at odds with the government with regard to Indian attacks, the farmers felt that this interference into their business was unjust and encroached upon their rights. They were also able to make annual payments for the tax that amounted to six cents per gallon. The large producers in the east took less exception to the tax, their cost to get the goods to market was less and they could decrease their tax by increasing their volume, something the farmers in the west were not able to do. The tax for the smaller producers was required to be made throughout the year and their cost was about nine cents per gallon. The tax, based on the capacity of the still rather than the quantity produced, was required to be paid in cash - something unusual for the time as whiskey was often the monetary unit westerners used to pay for their goods and services - not cash. In 1791 Congress approved a bill putting an excise tax on all distilled spirits. Having assumed the debts of the colonies from the Revolution, the government found itself deep in debt. Converting the grain to whiskey made it more transportable and there was a better market for this product.

The goods had to be transported by pack horse over the mountains and along dirt roads and the horses could only carry limited amounts at a time. With the majority of the population being farmers, there was often a limited market for the sale of their grain locally and it was difficult to transport the grains to the east for sale. The western part of Pennsylvania at this time was separated from the east by the Allegheny Mountains. What was the root cause of this rebellion? While some would say the roots go back much further, it was not until Mathat Congress instituted an excise tax on distilled liquors that set the rebellion of 1794 in motion. What came to be known as the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, or the Western Insurrection, took place over a period of time beginning in 1791 by most accounts. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Formation of the American Federation of Laborįamous Whiskey Insurrection in Pennsylvania.

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Whiskey business game