Details
This event will be held online May 16 at 2pm PT/7pm ET
Because we have been having issues with the correct date/time not showing up on Meetup, we encourage you to register at the link to receive your Zoom link and confirmation email.
The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America’s Newfound Sovereignty, by William Hogeland, 2006, 302 pages
William Hogeland’s The Whiskey Rebellion (2006) provides a gripping, detailed account of the 1790s Western Pennsylvania uprising against federal excise taxes, portraying it as a crucial, violent struggle that established federal power. The book highlights how Alexander Hamilton's financial plans fueled class conflict between elite Easterners and rural Westerners, leading to an armed rebellion that prompted a massive military response from George Washington.
Key Aspects of the Book:
The Conflict: Small farmers and distillers in western Pennsylvania felt the federal excise tax on whiskey was a weapon for creditors and industrialists to exploit their rural economies.
Radical Movement: The book explores how organized "insurgents" used violence, such as tarring and feathering tax collectors, to resist the tax.
Hamilton's Agenda: Rather than just raising revenue, the book argues Hamilton designed the tax to force industrial growth and centralize power.
Washington's Response: Washington, influenced by Hamilton, viewed the unrest as a threat to national sovereignty, deploying a 13,000-man army—a larger force than some Continental army units—to suppress the uprising.
Focus on Key Figures: It highlights the role of figures like Herman Husband, an eccentric leader aiming for broader radical change.
The Whiskey Rebellion argues that while the tax was eventually repealed, the federal government's firm, disproportionate, and somewhat violent response permanently established the supremacy of federal authority over local resistance.