Hamilton's Response To The Whiskey Rebellion

Nearly two decades after the American Revolution, the newly ratified Federal government is still dealing with serious financial burdens. The new Constitution requires the federal government to assume the national debt and power the power to levy taxes. As the first Secretary of the Treasury and iconic Federalist, Alexander Hamilton’s priority is to secure the financial footing of the United States. In 1791 Hamilton levied an excise tax on spirits and liquors distilled in the United States. Although the initial reaction to the excise tax was very negative as distilling was a staple in the frontier economy in colonial America. President Washington writes Secretary Hamilton in July of 1792 encouraging his efforts by reminding him that “The public

Although the national government reserved the right for citizens to have freedom of speech, the whiskey rebellion forced the government to draw the fine line between protest and rebellion. The suppression of this rebellion was an important opportunity for the national government to exercise their new power and prove their authority in governing the states and citizens. President Washington’s use of military force to squash this rebellion may have seemed drastic, but he was completely justified in his actions. Not only were the frontiersman in violation of the first amendment, the doctrine of political philosophers such as Hobbes and Montesquieu would support Washington’s decision to use military force to squash the rebellion. President Washington knew that this event was going to redefine the role of the federal government but suppressing this rebellion was critical to the longevity of their young

The first amendment reserves Americans the right to have freedom of speech and but it explicitly states peaceful protest . The frontiersmen were anything but peaceful, the destroyed property and notoriously tarred and feathered tax collectors. The last straw for President Washing was when the rebels attacked his newly appointed collector John Neville and burned his home to the ground. He then publicly proclaimed on the 25th of September 1794 on the cover of the Connecticut Newspaper “Those, therefore, who preach doctrines, or set examples, which undermine or subvert the authority of the laws, lead us from freedom to slavery; they incapacitate us for a government of laws and consequently prepare the way for one of force, for mankind must have government of one sort or another.” Washington gathered a militia of 13,000 men with Secretary Hamilton at his side he rode into Pittsburgh, the rebels dispersed and Washington chose to grant the majority of them amnesty. This was a good call for Washington because he realized the nation was at political crossroads and he could have caused more political division between the anti-Federalists and the