After a spirited debate, the House passed, by a 35 to 21 majority, the Excise Whiskey Tax—legislation that proved wildly unpopular with farmers and eventually precipitated the “Whisky Rebellion.” The measure levied a federal tax on domestic and imported alcohol, earmarked to offset a portion of the federal government’s …

The “whiskey tax” became law in 1791, and was intended to generate revenue for the war debt incurred during the Revolutionary War. The tax applied to all distilled spirits, but consumption of US whiskey was rapidly expanding in the late 18th century, so the excise became widely known as a “whiskey tax”.

The Whiskey Rebellion was a 1794 uprising of farmers and distillers in western Pennsylvania in protest of a whiskey tax enacted by the federal government. Opposition to the whiskey tax and the rebellion itself built support for the Republicans, who overtook Washington’s Federalist Party for power in 1802.

Why was this rebellion significant in our history? The Whiskey Rebellion was the first test of federal authority in the United States. This rebellion enforced the idea that the new government had the right to levy a particular tax that would impact citizens in all states.

Fast Facts: The Whiskey Rebellion Tax on distilled spirits caused enormous controversy in the early 1790s, especially along the western frontier of Pennsylvania. Protests against tax viewed as unfair escalated to attacks on excise collectors, including beatings and tarrings.

A whiskey tax imposed by Congress in 1791 was the reason for the Whiskey Rebellion. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804) proposed that the federal government assume responsibility for all the debts and pay them off with funds collected from various taxes, including the whiskey tax.