February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Popular protest by farmers in western Pennsylvania against a new federal excise tax on whiskey had recently turned into an armed insurrection. Recognizing the threat this “Whiskey Rebellion” posed to the new constitutional government established only a few years earlier, Washington mobilized a force of federal soldiers and personally led them to confront the rebels.
The great majority of the Whiskey Rebellion participants were descendants of Scotch Irish immigrants. The Scotch Irish were Presbyterians from Ulster who started coming to America in large numbers in the early 1700s.
They were the descendants of settlers brought to Ulster from the Scottish lowlands by James I in the early 1600s to settle lands confiscated from Catholics. The Crown hoped that the introduction of Scottish Presbyterians would help pacify Ireland by creating a powerful, landed population of loyal Protestants.
But by the end of the 17th century, the Scotch Irish were increasingly dissatisfied with their situation in Ireland, especially the high taxes and soaring rents (known as “rack rents”). The result was a steady migration to America, the one place that seemed to offer everything they wanted lots of inexpensive land, low taxes, and religious freedom. Between 1700 and 1820 the Scotch Irish constituted thirty percent of all Europeans coming America (fifty percent between 1776 and 1820).
Drawn by the promise of free land, most Scotch-Irish headed for the western frontier. For the earliest arrivals, this meant the frontier of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. But poor farming and contentious relations with their eastern counterparts led many to move southward to western Pennsylvania by the 1720s and 1730s. As the number of Scotch Irish arrivals continued to rise in the 18th century, they settled still further to the south all the way to Georgia, a fact evidenced by settlement names such as New Ireland, Maryland.
These tough Irishmen played a crucial role in pushing westward settlement. As a result, they came into frequent conflict with Indians and developed a reputation as ruthless Indian fighters. Their hardscrabble farms and fondness for rough games and drinking also led to a reputation for rowdiness and the popularity of the term “Wild Irish.” Colonial governments liked the Scotch Irish for their willingness to settle the frontier, but they were also leery of their fiercely guarded independence and resistance to government authority.
But why all the fuss about a tax on whiskey? The answer lies with the important role that whiskey played in frontier society. Whiskey became a vital part of everyday frontier life, perhaps because it was so tough, lonely, and devoid of diversion. Many family farms maintained a still for producing whiskey and the average adult male on the frontier consumed prodigious amounts of the stuff each year. The latter fact certainly contributed to the negative view many had of the Scotch Irish.
But whiskey also played an essential role in the local economy as a form of currency. This was especially true when it came to obtaining important goods from market towns like Pittsburgh. One gallon of whiskey sold in Pittsburgh for 25 cents allowed a family to purchase things like sugar, tools, and guns. And it must be kept in mind that one gallon of whiskey was much cheaper to transport to Pittsburgh than the huge quantity of grain that went into producing it.
Given how central it was to his everyday life and livelihood, the typical Scotch Irish farmer reacted angrily to any perceived threat to his whiskey. Imagine, then, his reaction to the news in 1791 that the new federal government had, at the behest of the Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, enacted a new excise tax on whiskey. Similar taxes on liquor had been on the books since the 1690s, but they applied only to rum. The 1791 tax on whiskey (seven cents per gallon) was intended to raise much needed revenue for the federal government to pay off its huge debt (much of it being state debts run up during the Revolution). It also contained a provision that taxed large distillers at a lower rate, putting a greater burden on the small-scale distillers.
Outraged, Scotch Irish farmers took a page from the Revolutionary era and like their patriotic brethren during the Stamp Act crisis of 1765-66, formed a resistance movement. From Pennsylvania to Georgia, distillers refused to register their stills with their local country tax office. Farmers charged with failure to pay the whiskey tax refused to travel to Philadelphia to stand trial. And federal revenue collectors who ventured to the frontier were beaten, tarred and feathered, and otherwise harassed to the point where they feared for their lives.
Washington and Hamilton initially opted for a wait and see approach, hoping the resistance would died down. But from 1791 when the tax took effect, to the summer of 1794, defiance only grew stronger. By then it was clear that if the federal government were to maintain any credibility it would have to suppress the rebellion. Resistance flourished in the western counties of many states, but it was in Pennsylvania that Washington and Hamilton decided to take a stand.
Continued next week
HIBERNIAN HISTORY WEEK
August 5, 1923: Henry Sullivan becomes the first American to swim the English Channel.
August 6, 1926: the first talking picture, Don Juan, starring John Barrymore opens in New York.
August 9, 1971: The British government adopts a policy of internment, authorizing the police in Northern Ireland to detain indefinitely, without charge or trial, anyone suspected of being involved with terrorism.
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HIBERNIAN BIRTHDATES:
August 6, 1775: Irish patriot and MP, Daniel O?Connell, is born near Cahersiveen, County Kerry.
August 7, 1890: Radical labor leader, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, is born in Concord, NH.
August 8, 1961: U2 Guitarist, The Edge (David Evans), is born in Barking, Essex, England, UK.