WHISKEY REBELLION: Conflict & Government Towards the end of the 16th century, the United States government experienced continuous changes in laws(taxes) and several problems(battling and removal of Indians) associated with westward expansion. Conflict was created in response to the rising taxes issued by the government on goods such as whiskey. Most affected by the heavy taxation were the creators and distributors of whiskey - the average poor white farmer. An incident that occurred in 1794 involving enraged farmers in western Pennsylvania, threatened the tax collectors lives as well as the authority of the government. This incident came to be known as the Whiskey Rebellion. In chapter 7 in Deverell and Hyde, historical accounts illustrated by Alexander Hamilton’s orders to Governor Lee of Pennsylvania, and Henry Brackenridge’s “Dreadful Night” show different perspectives of the outbreak of the Whiskey Rebellion. Hamilton’s orders to Governor Lee involved the suppression of opposition to the laws and causing the laws to be executed through military force or/and by judiciary (p.146). Also, objects of the military force were to overcome any armed opposition which may exist and to countenance and support the civil officers in the means of executing the laws (p.147). Alexander Hamilton was extremely concerned with this uprising because he wanted to mainly suppress the revolt and the set an example of government authority. Permitting the rebellious farmers to display that behavior would be like an act of anarchy and consequently, an attack on the federal government. The issues that involved and caused the Whiskey Rebellion was due primarily to major economic and political concerns - westward expansion and a developing government. At the time, many of people were in search of land, and property they could settle on that the recently dismissed British and French could no longer occupy....
