Whiskey Rebellion: Garnet Event

The real history

In 1791 Congress passed an excise tax on distilled spirits, an idea pushed by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to help pay the debts left over from the Revolutionary War. It was the first tax the new federal government placed on a product made inside the country.

Farmers on the western frontier were the angriest. They turned extra grain into whiskey because it was easier to carry over the mountains, and in a place with little cash, whiskey often worked like money. They also disliked registering their stills and being tried in far-off federal courts.

Protests grew over the next three years. In July 1794 armed men clashed with federal revenue officer John Neville near Pittsburgh, and a crowd attacked and burned his house. By early August about 7,000 protesters had gathered at Braddock's Field near the city. On August 7 Washington issued a proclamation ordering them to go home, and he then called up a militia force of about 12,950 men. In the fall he traveled west with them, the only time a sitting president has gone into the field with an army.

By the time the troops arrived, the rebellion had melted away. Only two men were convicted of treason, and Washington pardoned them both. Congress repealed the whiskey tax in 1802. Many historians see the episode as an early test of whether the new national government could enforce its own laws.

Sources

1. The Whiskey Rebellion, American Battlefield Trust
2. The Whiskey Rebellion, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Checked against these sources on October 3, 2026. Spot a mistake? Report an error. How we check facts.