In March 1791 Treasury Secretary and Federalist Party leader Alexander Hamilton shocked the western frontier when he proposed a domestic excise tax on whiskey to balance America’s national debt.
The law, known colloquially as the “Whiskey Act,” disproportionately penalized farmers in the backcountry, while offering favorable tax incentives designed to protect larger distillers. [Read more…] about The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History