The final workshop in the Bridgeville Area Historical Society’s series on George Washington’s influence on Western Pennsylvania focused on the Whiskey Rebellion and Washington’s key role in it.
No one was surprised when Washington was elected our first President in 1788. When available revenue was insufficient to support the cost of running the new government, Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton proposed a tax on the production of Whiskey. It was passed on March 3, 1791.
The excise act immediately met opposition from all the settlements west of the Alleghenies. In this area an aggressive group of protestors chose to take matters into their own hands. Tax Collector Robert Johnson was tarred and feathered.
Opposition to Mr. Hamilton’s excise tax generated disagreement in Washington’s cabinet. Hamilton wanted to establish federal authority by force. After considerable deliberation, Washington issued a Proclamation instructing all judicial officials to enforce the excise laws.
By 1794 opposition to the Excise Tax had led to open defiance of authority. United States Marshal David Lenox began serving writs requiring sixty distillers to appear in Federal Court in Philadelphia. On July 14 he turned his attention to Allegheny and Washington Counties. The next three days erupted into open rebellion, culminating in the burning of Revenue Inspector John Neville’s plantation, Bower Hill.
The consequences of these events shook the frontier as well as the federal government. A rally was called for Braddock’s Field on August 1. At least 5,000 armed men met there with the intention of marching on Pittsburgh. Responsible leaders somehow persuaded the mob that the show of strength was sufficient; they marched through the city peacefully and dispersed.
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia Hamilton advocated military action in Western Pennsylvania. Washington issued a Proclamation ordering insurgents “to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes” and sent a Peace Commission to Western Pennsylvania.
On August 14 a meeting at Parkinson’s Ferry (now Monongahela City) drew 250 delegates. David Bradford urged open rebellion. Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Albert Gallatin, and William Findley advocated restraint. They agreed to appoint a committee to meet with federal officials to negotiate an end to upheavals, against Bradford’s wishes.
When the Peace Commission met with the Parkinson’s Ferry Committee, it appeared that a crisis had been avoided. On October 2, delegates to a meeting at Parkinson’s Ferry made unanimous oaths of fealty to the federal government. William Findley and David Redick were dispatched to convince Washington that sending the army was unnecessary. The President however announced that the time for “overtures of forgiveness” had ended. He reviewed the troops at Carlisle and accompanied them as far as Bedford.
When the army reached Pittsburgh, they found themselves without opposition. On November 19 they returned East. Eventually twenty-four men were indicted for high treason. Ten of them were tried; the other fourteen were never apprehended.
Two men – Philip Wigle and John Mitchell – were convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. When many Philadelphia citizens petitioned President Washington for leniency, both men were pardoned. He had successfully survived the first major challenge to federal authority with a combination of firmness and compassion.
In retrospect, George Washington’s involvement in inventing a new kind of government during his Presidency may well be his greatest achievement, surpassing even his magnificent leadership during the Revolutionary War.