what was the cause of the whiskey rebellion
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion ( also known as the Whiskey Insurrection ) was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington . The so - called `` whiskey tax '' was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government . It 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 American whiskey was by far the country 's most popular distilled beverage in the 18th century , so the excise became widely known as a `` whiskey tax '' . Farmers of the western frontier were accustomed to distilling their surplus rye , barley , wheat , corn , or fermented grain mixtures into whiskey . These farmers resisted the tax . In these regions , whiskey often served as a medium of exchange . Many of the resisters were war veterans who believed that they were fighting for the principles of the American Revolution , in particular against taxation without local representation , while the federal government maintained that the taxes were the legal expression of Congressional taxation powers . 
The Whiskey Rebellion ( also known as the Whiskey Insurrection ) was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington . The so - called `` whiskey tax '' was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government . It 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 American whiskey was by far the country 's most popular distilled beverage in the 18th century , so the excise became widely known as a `` whiskey tax '' . Farmers of the western frontier were accustomed to distilling their surplus rye , barley , wheat , corn , or fermented grain mixtures into whiskey . These farmers resisted the tax . In these regions , whiskey often served as a medium of exchange . Many of the resisters were war veterans who believed that they were fighting for the principles of the American Revolution , in particular against taxation without local representation , while the federal government maintained that the taxes were the legal expression of Congressional taxation powers .
The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington. Many of the resisters were war veterans who believed that they were fighting for the principles of the American Revolution, in particular against taxation without local representation, while the federal government maintained that the taxes were the legal expression of Congressional taxation powers.
The Whiskey Rebellion ( also known as the Whiskey Insurrection ) was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington . Many of the resisters were war veterans who believed that they were fighting for the principles of the American Revolution , in particular against taxation without local representation , while the federal government maintained that the taxes were the legal expression of Congressional taxation powers .