What Were The Causes Of The Whiskey Rebellion

The U.S. has just won its independence from Britain. A new form of government needs to be instituted. Out came the Articles of Confederation. Under the articles the federal government had very little power. It was quite clear the articles would not last for long. The next form of government would be under the Constitution. Now the federal government would have considerably more power, but now the problem of forcing the nation to respect that new found power became more prominent. By nature when a human is forced to do something they do not like or want to do they are likely to try some form of rebellion. This is very true in regards to the federal government as it was gaining power. One of these rebellions can be seen in the Whiskey Rebellion.
The people had believed the federal government had overstepped their bounds, for this they rebelled.
George Washington then had to assert the power of the federal government by putting down the rebellion with lethal force. Another can be seen in the Nullification Crisis. Once again the people believed the federal government had overstepped their jurisdiction, so they tried to rebel. This time the rebellion was a bit more peaceful, but it was still a rebellion against the federal government. Both of these as well as many other events all led to a rise in federal power. Post 1800 the federal government gained much ground in terms of power; however, this rise in power was not met without opposition of the people, for the Whiskey Rebellion and the Nullification Crisis were both revolts against the rise in federal power. Therefore, while the government was rising in federal power, it had setbacks in both the Whiskey Rebellion and the Nullification
Crisis. When the Articles of Confederation were in effect, many problems arose about federal funding. Under the Articles of Confederation the government had absolutely no power to impose taxes. “The united states, in congress assembled, shall also have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective states - fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the united states - regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the states; provided that the legislative right of any state, within its own limits, be not infringed or violated - establishing and regulating post-offices from one state to another, throughout all the united states, and exacting such postage on the papers passing through the same, as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said office - appointing all officers of the land forces in the service of the united States, excepting regimental officers - appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the united states; making rules for the government and regulation of the said land and naval forces, and directing their operations.”
“Article XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed, and debts contracted by or under the authority of congress, before the assembling of the united states, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the united States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said united states and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged.” In neither parts of these only two articles even regarding money did Congress have any power to tax. The closest it had was the power to regulate trade with foreigners or non-Americans. Now that the government finally had the power to tax under the Constitution that was the first thing the government did. One of the earliest was the tax on whiskey. The problem was the fact that many farmer relied very heavily on whiskey, and because corn would spoil to quickly, most of the corn crop would need to be turned into whiskey. However, this was now an almost profitless market because most of the retail price on whiskey was now being taken by the federal government. The farmers decided to take matters into their own hands and openly rebel against the federal government stating they had overstepped their legal jurisdiction. “The Intelligence received from the Western Counties of Pennsylvania, which comes down to the 13th Inst., and announces a far as it was then known, the result of the meetings of the People in the several Townships, and districts to express their sense on the Question of submission or resistance to the Laws. - while it shews a great proportion of the Inhabitants of those Counties disposed to pursue the path of Duty, shews also, that there is a large and violent Party which can only be controuled by the application of Force – This being the result, it is become the more indispensable and urgent to press forward the forces destined to act against the Insurgents with all possible activity and Energy. The advanced season leaves no time to spare, and it is extremely important to afford speedy protection to the well disposed, and to prevent the preparation and accumulation of greater means of Resistance, and the extension of Combinations to abet the Insurrection—The President counts upon every exertion on your part, which so serious and eventful an emergency demands.” This was a letter sent to the Department of War in response to the rebellion. Soon after Washington would lead an army to put down the rebellion. In 1828, South Carolina declared it had the constitutional right to nullify laws and tariffs enforced by congress and in turn the federal government.
They passed a state bill that more or less refused to pay any previous tariffs set by the federal government because the affected the south more adversely than the north. The government saw things quite differently. In 1832 South Carolina officially said, more or less, that if the federal government tried to collect any of the taxes from the nullified tariffs, South Carolina would effectively and immediately secede from the U.S.. This was an open act of defiance towards not only federal laws but the federal government as a whole. South Carolina didn’t believe that the federal government had the neither the power nor the right to impose unjust tariffs. For the most part South Carolina was right. Congress did not have the power or right, but the tariffs in question weren’t unreasonable. In response to that threat Andrew Jackson sent the a portion of the U.S. navy to enforce the tariffs. At this point South Carolina knew it could go to war with the U.S., so a compromise was created. This compromise would appease both sides, but the more important part is that now the absolute power of federal government is more evident. When the federal government faces South Carolina in the eyes it backed down. “Whereas a convention, assembled in the State of South Carolina, have passed an ordinance, by which they declare that the several acts
and parts of acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities, and now having actual operation and effect within the United States, and more especially "two acts for the same purposes, passed on the 29th of May, 1828, and on the 14th of July, 1832, are unauthorized by the Constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null and void, and no law," nor binding on the citizens of that State or its officers, and by the said ordinance it is further declared to be unlawful for any of the constituted authorities of the State, or of the United States, to enforce the payment of the duties imposed by the said acts within the same State, and that it is the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as may be necessary to give full effect to the said ordinances.” In this message, from Jackson to Congress, Jackson is more or less stating the unconstitutionality of the Ordinance of Nullification. It took a long time for the federal government to become a respected institution, and through this time there was much opposition. Some of these were more peaceful than others, but they all revolved around the same concept. During the revolts, rebellions, ect., the people stated the federal government had no right in some of the things they did. They all also led to one thing, the federal government asserting its power over the state governments. After the period of 1800, the federal government started to take more active roles in affairs with the country; however, this rise in federal power was not completely embraced. Therefore the people rebelled against the rise in federal power.