The Whiskey Rebellion
Review by Darren Sutherland
The Whiskey Rebellion
by William Hogeland
Scribner
$26.95
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In 1791 the newly formed government of the United States of America attempted to levy the first excise tax on the American people resulting in a string of uprisings in western Pennsylvania that became known as the Whiskey Rebellion. This provocative and enlightened new history of the Whiskey Rebellion by Hogeland explores the political machinations behind the whiskey tax and the ensuing melee.
Hogeland describes these events in a gripping narrative that both illuminates and gives weight to the era. The tax and its repercussions are viewed in the light of the battle between Hamiltonian federalism and Jeffersonian democracy. In the early days of the nation (and according to Hogeland even during the revolution itself), Hamilton maneuvered for the concentration of capital in the hands of a wealthy “American Aristocracy,” a privileged minority with the resources to finance growth and innovation that would make a strong American economy and thus a strong America. According to Hogeland, Hamilton not only wanted to concentrate the economic engines in the East, but also to allow the newly formed government to assert its sovereignty by the use of military force. The unique situation of whiskey in the states presented an opportunity to do both. The whiskey economy of its day was powerful, being largely produced by small homespun stills in western Pennsylvania and then traded throughout the newly formed nation at premium prices. At the same time, larger producers and distilleries were springing up in cities in the East, such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The wily and wise Hamilton understood that his tax would unduly burden the small producers, essentially giving them no choice but ruination or revolt. In the end he was able to achieve both. Washington was forced to use the might of the United States military against his own citizenry, further strengthening the role of the central government, and the tax eventually stood, recentralizing economic power in the hands of moneyed easterners, who could then with the help of the government fuel the high-octane growth of the new country.
Hogeland’s weaves the historical material deftly and surely into a compelling narrative, while at the same time providing the reader with a wide view of the historical place and value of the events. Many of the arguments inherent in Hogeland’s account are echoed today in the arguments for populist equality versus economic vitality. Particularly for anyone who enjoyed David McCullough’s John Adams and 1776, this must-read account will be a welcome and enlightening addition to the knowledge of our early history, and even shed light on our current socio-political situation.
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