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7 AUGUST 1794 - CALLING FORTH THE MILITIA - #WhiskeyRebellion
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Farmers in western Pennsylvania, who bitterly resented Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton's 1791 excise taxes on liquor since it was manufactured from their only cash crop, rebelled. The new federal government's response to the "Whiskey Rebellion" contrasted significantly to the Continental Congress' reaction to the rioting led by Daniel Shays in 1786.
Although the Regular Army was deployed on the frontier, most Americans feared and opposed the federal government using it against its own the citizens anyway. When he learned Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Mifflin refused to use state militia against rioters who had attacked federal revenue agents, President George Washington acted.
On 7 August 1794, after consulting his cabinet, a Pennsylvania state official and a Supreme Court associate justice, the President warned the rioters to cease and desist or he would exercise his authority under Article II Section 2 of the Constitution as commander in chief of the militia when called to active federal service and the U.S. Militia Acts of 1792. Secretary of War Henry Knox then called upon the governors of Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania for 12,950 troops.
Commissioners were then sent to the affected areas to convince the "insurgents" to cease their anti-government violence. When the rioters refused, the president issued the "calling forth" of the militia in September. Commanded by Governor Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee of Virginia, who had served as an officer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, the overwhelming display of military strength ended the "rebellion" without serious incident.
As a result, President Washington and most other state and federal leaders accepted the use of force as a last resort. This success, coupled with the victory of the Regular Army commanded by Major General Anthony Wayne in the Battle of Fallen Timbers greatly enhanced the prestige of the central government.