{"data":{"description":"Whiskey Rebellion Tax: Taxing 'Sin' - Then and Now .. Call it progress. In 1794 we reached for our firearms and were ready to start shooting. Today we ..","title":"The Whiskey Rebellion: Taxing 'Sin' — Then and Now","post_type":"page","content":"\u003cp class=\"byline\"\u003eby Bruce Kauffmann\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"So? Who's in a hurry?\"\r\n- Robert Benchley, when told that drinking and smoking are \"slow poison.\"\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003e\r\nOn August 1, 1794, there occurred in this country the \"Whiskey Rebellion,\" which offers a few lessons on taxation (especially of the \"sin tax\" variety), political deal making, \u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/ramsays-life-washington/life-george-washington-david-ramsay-chapter-one\"\u003eGeorge Washington\u003c/a\u003e and the advancement of civilization.\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"divleft\"\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cimg src=\"/images/earlyamerica/perils.jpg\" alt=\"Whiskey Rebellion Tax\" width=\"252\" height=\"178\" /\u003e\u003cp\u003eA tax collector is tarred and feathered during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\nThe chain of events that led to the \u003ca title=\"Whiskey Rebellion\" href=\"/earlyamerica/milestone-events/whiskey-rebellion/\"\u003eWhiskey Rebellion\u003c/a\u003e began when \u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-6/alexander-hamilton-childhood/\"\u003eAlexander Hamilton\u003c/a\u003e put together an agreement between the states and the federal government that said the feds would assume all the debts incurred by the states after the Revolutionary War. In return the states agreed that the nation's capital city would be moved south from Philadelphia to a piece of backwoods, mosquito-infested swampland located on the banks of the Potomac River between Virginia and Maryland.\r\n\r\nIt is not true, as has been supposed, that the location was chosen because it was close to George Washington's home and therefore would make it easier for him to commute (there was no White House at the time). Actually, the location was chosen as a sop to the southern states that would only agree to Hamilton's deal if the capital was moved South (it was a prestige thing). But the city did later take Washington's name, going down in history as Washington, District of Columbia.\r\n\r\nIn any event, having agreed to assume the debts of the states in order to facilitate this new city, Hamilton had to find a way to pay those debts. So he came up with the brilliant idea of imposing an excise tax on whiskey.\r\n\r\nNow — \u003cstrong\u003elike all good taxes\u003c/strong\u003e — a whiskey tax was bound to hurt some more than others, and in this case it was bound to hurt those in the west most of all (at this time the west — the \"frontier\" — was actually western Pennsylvania).\r\n\r\nWhy? For one thing, these westerners, mostly farmers, were considered backward and a little slow-witted, so it was assumed that one could tax them with impunity.\r\n\r\nBesides, those uncouth westerners both drank and produced more whiskey than did the sophisticated easterners, whose tastes tended toward wine and port over the hard stuff. Whereas many westerners earned a living making whiskey, more easterners earned a living making politics (I leave it to you, gentle reader, to decide which poses more long-term health risks). So, the combination of a (perceived) lack of political clout on the part of the westerners, and the fact that easterners would pay proportionally less due to their drinking habits and livelihood, made a whiskey tax seem ideal — at least to the easterners.\r\n\r\nNot so to the westerners, who revolted against the tax. Their rebellion spread swiftly but they were no match for the power of George Washington. He may have been president at the time, but was not averse to donning his old military uniform and getting back into the fray (imagine today's presidents pulling the ol' uniform out of mothballs and deciding to lead the invasion of Panama, Iraq or Somalia). Washington, with Hamilton by his side, led an army of some 12,000 men into western Pennsylvania and easily put down the revolt. \u003cstrong\u003eThat was the end of the Whiskey Rebellion\u003c/strong\u003e although, if memory serves, the excise tax was either repealed or (unlike the whiskey) diluted.\r\n\r\nAs an aside, let me note some striking similarities between this whiskey tax and what is happening with cigarettes in the 1990s. As a reformed smoker who hasn't had a cigarette in 15 years, I bow to no one in my conviction that they cause myriad health problems. But let's face it, as we of the \"educated class\" became more aware of the harm cigarettes cause — and therefore reduced our use of the filthy weed — we also became more enamored of the idea that taxing the bejabbers out of tobacco was a great way to improve the country's health, reduce national medical costs and raise revenue.\r\n\r\nMy point is this: In — say — the 1970s, when we too smoked a lot, the chances are a lot more remote that cigarettes would be taxed as heavily as they are today, or that anti-smoking fervor would sweep the country and become something of a cause celebre to our president (a closet cigar smoker).\r\n\r\nFor their part today's smokers — as is normal in the '90s — are beginning to grumble loudly about society's and the government's attempts to demonize them, ostracize them and take away their \"rights.\" Occasionally you see a letter-to-the editor, or some smoker waxing indignant on television about government \"intrusion,\" and not long ago smokers even staged a \"march on Washington.\"\r\n\r\nAlong parallel lines, the tobacco companies have mounted legal counterattacks against the efforts of the media and the government to put them out of business or restrict their ability to grow their markets. Undaunted, as we have seen lately, the government has stepped up the pressure on tobacco companies as only it can.\r\n\r\n\u003cstrong\u003eCall it progress.\u003c/strong\u003e In 1794 we reached for our firearms and were ready to start shooting. Today we reach for our lawyers, our lobbyists, our PACs and our PR firms. And most of our shots are verbal.\r\n\r\nIt goes to show (I think) how civilized we have all become.\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"hr\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"byline\"\u003e(Copyright Bruce Kauffmann, 1996)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cul\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003eBack to \u003ca title=\"Milestone Events\" href=\"/earlyamerica/milestone-events/\"\u003eMilestone Events\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003eMore About \u003ca title=\"Whiskey Rebellion\" href=\"/earlyamerica/milestone-events/whiskey-rebellion/\"\u003eThe Whiskey Rebellion\u003c/a\u003e:\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003eRead the Text Version: \u003ca title=\"Whiskey Rebellion Proclamation\" href=\"/earlyamerica/milestone-events/whiskey-rebellion-proclamation/\"\u003eThe Whiskey Rebellion Proclamation\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003c/ul\u003e","menu":[{"path":"lives-early-america","title":"Famous Lives","submenu":[{"path":"lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin","title":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin"},{"path":"lives-early-america/ramsays-life-washington","title":"Ramsay's The Life of Washington"},{"path":"lives-early-america/adventures-col-daniel-boone","title":"The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone"},{"path":"lives-early-america/true-story-paul-revere","title":"The True Story of Paul Revere"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"portrait","title":"Portraits"},{"path":"rare-images/last-men-revolution","title":"The Last Men of the Revolution"}]},{"path":"freedom-documents","title":"Freedom Documents","submenu":[{"path":"freedom-documents/bill-rights","title":"Bill of Rights"},{"path":"freedom-documents/declaration-independence","title":"Declaration of Independence"},{"path":"freedom-documents/u-s-constitution","title":"The U.S. Constitution"}]},{"path":"world-early-america","title":"World of Early America","submenu":[{"path":"bookmarks","title":"Early American Bookmarks"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"firsts","title":"Firsts!"},{"path":"rare-images/maps","title":"Maps"},{"path":"rare-images","title":"Rare Images"},{"path":"music1","title":"Music"},{"path":"writings","title":"The Writings of Early America"}]},{"path":"boston-massacre","title":"Boston Massacre"},{"path":"milestone-events","title":"Milestones"},{"path":"early-america-review","title":"The Review"},{"path":"home/teachers-students","title":"Teachers"},{"path":"sitemap","title":"Sitemap"}]},"success":true}