The Whiskey Rebellion was a violent tax protest that occurred on the western frontier of Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1794.
United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, in his quest to have the federal government assume states' debts and pay them off, oversaw the imposition of a tax on whiskey in 1791, believing that it was a justifiable luxury tax. However, on the frontier, many poor farmers received payment in whiskey due to the lack of paper currency (the tax could only be paid in specie), effectively rendering the whiskey tax an exclusive tax on Westerners. Democratic-Republican Societies in the West railed against "taxation without representation", and farmers led by Continental Army veteran James McFarlane took up arms. They first tarred and feathered the tax collector Robert Johnson, and 500 rebels headed to confront the federal marshal John Neville at his home at Bower Hill on 16 July 1794. Neville was protected by the militia, who opened fire during a tense confrontation with the rebels. Jeremiah Purvis was killed, resulting in a shootout in which the rebels were forced to retreat. The rebels later came back to arrest Neville for Purvis' death, but the militia - led by Major Abraham Kirkpatrick - insisted that Neville was not home. The two sides exchanged fire after Eban Krutch and McFarlane attempted to storm the home, and the militia repelled the rebels and killed McFarlane as he attempted to call a ceasefire.
McFarlane's death radicalized the countryside, as Democratic-Republican Societies praised the French Revolution and called for the guillotine to be brought to America. President George Washington sent peace commissioners to western Pennsylvania to negotiate with the rebels while calling on governors to raise forces against the rebellion. Washington himself rode at the head of an army of 13,000 militia from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, becoming the only President to command an army in the field during his tenure. The rebels dispersed before Washington's army arrived, as William Findlay and David Redick negotiated the rebels' surrender. 20 rebels were arrested, but all were acquitted or pardoned. The suppression of the rebellion reinforced the ability of the national government to enforce its laws and successfully tested America's republican system, as Washington was able to suppress the army without becoming a tyrant.
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