Funding the Suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion

[Whiskey Rebellion]: [Washington, George]: [Randolph, Edmund]:

Third Congress of the United States...An Act Making Appropriations for the Support of the Military Establishment for the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety Five; And for the Expenses of the Militia Lately Called Into the Service of the United States [caption title].

Philadelphia: 1795. Broadside, 12 x 8 inches. Minor wear, light toning, tipped to stub on verso along left edge. Very good plus. Item #13034

A rare Act passed by the Third Congress appropriating funds for the military, and in particular, those troops sent to Western Pennsylvania to quell the Whiskey Rebellion. The Act stipulates specifically how much money is being appropriated to the militias of each state for "pay, subsistence, and forage" in "their late expedition to the western counties of Pennsylvania." Additional expenditures are approved for "artificers and drivers of ordnance," the Virginia cavalry, clothing, "camp-equipage," "hospital stores," and other departments within the various militias. The second section of the Act provides up to half a million dollars "towards defraying the expense of the military establishment," and the third section defines how Congress is going to pay for all of the above.

George Washington's presidential message of November 22, 1792 advocated a tax on distilled spirits, and Alexander Hamilton was a strong proponent of the whiskey excise tax, which was part of his overall plan for putting the federal government on a sound fiscal basis. As with many of his other proposals, it aroused bitter opposition in some quarters. Some objected that it laid federal taxes which properly belong to the states, while frontier representatives considered themselves singled out for an onerous tax. The impact of the whiskey revenue took several years to take full effect while the system of collectors was installed. Growing resistance to the tax continued to develop through the summer of 1794, when the Whiskey Rebellion really began. Congress repealed the excise tax on distilled spirits in March 1797, effectively ending the cause of the revolt.

"Approved, thirty first Decr. 1794" and signed in print by Speaker of the House Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, Vice President John Adams, and President George Washington. Two states of this imprint are noted. One, Evans 29689, includes a statement of deposition: "Deposited among the rolls in the Office of the Secretary of State. Secretary of State," and is signed by Secretary of State Edmund Randolph. The other, Bristol B9365, is without this statement. This is the latter. NAIP locates four copies in all, but does not distinguish between the two states. Rare in either format.

BRISTOL B9365. NAIP w010750.

Price: $3,500