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What Was the First Product Ever Taxed By the Federal Government?

Dec. 11, 2012 8:21am Benny Johnson

Can you imagine an America without any federal taxes? Well that is exactly what we had in our first two years as a nation. Zero federal taxes. Each state was allowed to tax what their individual legislatures deemed appropriate. However, Alexander Hamilton and America’s first congress had different ideas.

Hamilton had proposed a tax on distilled spirits to raise revenue to pay down the national debt. It had soared after the federal government assumed debts incurred by states in the Revolutionary War as part of the grand bargain that led to the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.

After a vigorous debate, the House decided by a vote of 35-21 to approve legislation imposing a seven cent per-gallon excise tax on whiskey. The measure was intended to pay off debts incurred by the Revolutionary War. This marks the first time in our history that congress voted to tax an American product.

Hamilton said the tax would serve “more as a measure of social discipline than as a source of revenue.” But, perhaps most important, he wanted the tax to advance and secure the power of the weak federal government.

Southern and western farmers, whose grain crop was a chief ingredient in whiskey, loudly protested the tax. These farmers earned much of their income by distilling their spare grain into liquor, and they were incensed that the tax was aimed at producers, not consumers.

According to politico:

“In 1794, farmers in western Pennsylvania attacked federal officials seeking to collect tax on the grain they had distilled into whiskey. One group of resisters, disguised as women, assaulted a tax collector, cropped his hair, tarred and feathered him and stole his horse.”

What Was The First Federal Tax on an American Made Product?

Photo Credit: libraryofcongress.gov

And thus began an incredibly important event in the American experiment – The Whiskey Rebellion.

The rebellion escalated when a mob of farmers in Washington County, Pennsylvania burned down the mansion of the Inspector of Revenue in southwestern Pennsylvania, Brig. Gen. John Neville. The General was close friends with President George Washington.

About.com describes the unprecedented events that followed:

“On August 7 President Washington, recognizing that he must maintain control if the fledgling government was to survive, issued the Whiskey Rebellion Proclamation ordering the insurgents to go home and calling out a militia force of several thousand from four states. After efforts of negotiators to try and calm the insurrection failed, President George Washington, acting upon the advice of Federalist Alexander Hamilton, decided to make an example of the rebels and rode to Western Pennsylvania with 13,000 militia troops to quash the rebellion.

Washington accompanied the troops as far as Bedford, where he spent the night at the house of David Espy on October 18. The next day, he reviewed the assembled troops, issued orders to General Lee, and then started back to Philadelphia. This was to be the last time George Washington personally led troops on the field, and the only time he did so as President.

Photo Credit: About.com

By the time the federal force arrived in Western Pennsylvania, the rebellion had collapsed and most of the rebels had fled. The Whiskey Rebellion officially ended on the night of 13 November, 1794, with the arrest of approximately 150 remaining rebels. It was not until 1801 that the excise tax on whiskey was officially ended, however.”

All those arrested were eventually granted a presidential pardon by General Washington. Cheers.

Photo Credit: thedistilledlife.com

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Comments (41)

liljoe62
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 10:57pm
What is wrong here is the FACT that the COMPROMISE is a BAD thing! But ONLY when YOU dont get what YOU want! I dont care about compromise, unless its what is BEST for America! And as far as I can tell, the COMPROMISE that the Dems, or Libs want the American people to make is DETRIMENTAL to the COUNTRY, as a whole! You MUST NOT allow one side to have its way( as Barry and his Fecal Blizzard Spewing buddies in his regime) want! To be a TRUE American, yes you must be willing to compromise, but only to obtain the BEST outcome for the country! And be HONEST about it to WE THE PEOPLE! But I dont see ANY honesty about what coming out of Washington today! NOTHING! This fiscal cliff is ALL on the Dems, and Libs, and partly the Reps to! I dont want to find blame, I want it F—ing fixed, by the people WE put in office! Or WE THE PEOPLE will take them out, an dput in SMART ,ones who are WILLING to do what it takes to fix it! As for you on th left, or you fringe Libertarians, I have NO RESPECT for your thoughts, as YOU have proven over the years that they are USELESS , for the betterment of the country!!! And YES thats you Time to endpaulcampaingn!

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supermansdad
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:29pm
Something the Neo-anarchist/Left-side Libertarians need to take note of: The nations first president, the revered George Washington,personally led troops to assault and kill Americans for failure to pay a tax. Re-read that a few times.

That means it could happen again. Thats bad.

It also means the idiots on the Libertarian/Neo-Anarchist side are truely blooming idiots for saying taxes can’t be imposed on a product such as alcohol. Every one of those farmers that participated in assaulting the tax collecter were guilty of many crimes. If you did today to the banker foreclosing your house, tax man or any other person what they did you would be in or under the jail.

Get over it! THEY BROKE THE LAW!!! We are a nation of law, liberty protected by…THE LAW!

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fcbs46
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 2:37pm
Frankly it sounds just like today
tax and pay the debt
tax the producers
tax and spend to make the federal government stronger
Where have we changed, except that now we have 47% of the people on the dole.

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TeslanEdison
Posted on December 12, 2012 at 4:12am
I guess this time it will be Obama flying way up overhead while directing UN forces to destroy any constitutional defenders, including US military or other parties that might get in the way.

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taintso
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 10:49pm
Tax lies and Washington DC would support itself and pay off the national debt.

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TheBurningTruth
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 11:45am
What I find most interesting about this story is that back when I was in school (HS grad of ’74) we learned history in SCHOOL. Now all the the kiddies learn is why “Bobby has two mommies” and “Suzie has two daddies”. Today’s kids are left without anything but Progressive Liberal drivel and history re-writes.

It’s sad when basic history has to be presented as some kind of special news story.

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dont_drive_slow_in_the_left_lane_obliviot
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 10:28am
Time for another whiskey rebellion I suppose.

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- banjarmon
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 1:07pm
  How about a TAX Rebellion!!!! GO TEA!!!
  
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- supermansdad
  Posted on December 12, 2012 at 7:09pm
  Uh…you do realized they LOST!
  
  Report this comment
Tigress1
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 10:09am
See? Give the government an inch and they take 1000 miles. How many taxes do we have now? Once things are taxed, the taxes NEVER go away. A million taxes and our national debt has only grown.

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- Lloyd Drako
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 1:30pm
  Taxes never go away? Sure they do. The excise tax on whiskey went away. It says so in the article.
  
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scrudge
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:40am
Ah Yes….. naaaaaaa… it was CHO-CHO

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AbrahamsSheepdog
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:34am
And so it started. Tar & feather. Espy. Dukes o Hazards. Plan in motion. ~now who is crazy~ not me.

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- OhioRifleman
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 1:14pm
  Erm, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
  
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Mandors
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:32am
What most people forget is that many of the rebels were veterans of the Revolutionary War whom Congress never paid. The veterans were owed money, their pay, for their service and never got a cent. The whiskey industry was their livelihood, so the tax was a double slap on the face to these former heroes.

“All those arrested were eventually granted a presidential pardon by General Washington. Cheers.”
Washington never got them what they were owned either. The first and sadly not the last time that our veterans were screwed by the government.

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rdk
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:28am
Eliminate the tax on whiskey and, thereby, renew America.

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TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:25am
Does anyone know “Murray Rothbard?” He is the ideological leader of Paleolibertarinism (Ron Paul, the Liberty Movement).

To hear Murray tell it… George Washington was an absolute tyrant (Murray never met a Military man he didn’t hate) and he had no problem slapping down Washington (like Lincoln, like Reagan, like GW) every chance he got.

The history of the Whiskey Tax Rebellion is a favorate of Murray’s where he gets to slap down both Washington AND Jefferson in one fell swoop (while these Liberty Lovers quote Washington and Jefferson every chance they get).

Rothbard used the Whiskey Tax Rebellion as a segue into explaining the horrible “northern aggressors’… the eventual war between the states… and why he eventually hated the “United” States as a “whole.”

Gotta’ love the Liberty Movement… for they not only hated the likes of GW, but Reagan, Lincoln, Jefferson and most of all…. Washington… George Washinton.

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- soybomb315_II
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:32am
  wow you are an obsessed and confused person…..
  
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- soybomb315_II
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:32am
  yea – i ‘hate’ thomas jefferson….
  
  Report this comment
- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:38am
  Sure I’m obsessed SOY… why wouldn’t I be obsessed when it comes to America’s enemies. While everyone rightly slaps around Obama and the left. I’ve chosen to take up my musket against the rest of the enemy within. You don’t like a guy who stands up for his country and what he believes in?
  
  You’re the fraud here SOY… not me. You are part of the problem… not the solution. All show with you guys… no stay.
  
  Report this comment
- DougHuffman
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:42am
  Libertarians are just another stripe of progressive. Le’see; democraps are progressives with a black stripe, skunk-like, and repugnicans are progressives with a white stripe, skunk-like, that must leave a yellow stripe coward like for the lieberaltarians.
  
  Good people ought to be armed as they will, with wits and Guns and the Truth. God Bless Bitter Clingers, damn progressives.
  
  Report this comment
- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:44am
  “yea – i ‘hate’ thomas jefferson….”
  
  And you just loved Mary Johnson (BIG New Mexico progressive Governor). Who is confused here SOY??
  
  Must be all about the pot… what else could it be??
  
  Report this comment
- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 10:06am
  DOUGH wrote….”that must leave a [yellow stripe coward] like for [the lieberaltarians].”
  
  These are America’s true cowards. A bunch of “master-debators” who talk the talk and never walk the walk. They compare themselves to The Founders, yada, yada, yada… but where the rubber meets the road… when their country needs them… where there is the sound of danger… these cowards turn tail and run for the hills to let someone else do the heavy lifting.
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 10:09am
  TIME, I’ve been preaching that last line of your post for quite a while now.
  While many Libertarian citizens out here are mostly disgusted with the Republican politicians and seek something better, I have found the Libertarian Party to be the long lost twin of the Progressives. Have expressed that here many times now. I would much prefer to gather the actual conservatives together and clean out the Republican party of RINOs than to start a boatload of other parties that will eventually separate us even more. Then we could start to look like Italy with their mess of parties.
  
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- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 10:28am
  RJJ. I agree with your logical common sense reasoning as usual. I even went as far the other day to write that I would vote for a Palin / Rand Paul or vice versa in ’16. You should have read them biatching about that one, lol. They can’t even stand it when I’m willing to take one for the “team” and endorse a guy like Rand Paul ??
  
  They know nothing of “teamwork” and compromise. I don’t see them as purists… I see them in a far worse light as they well understand.
  
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BasketFullOfPuppies
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:25am
Taxation WITH representation sucks, too.

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Eleutheria
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:19am
It’s sad that many people have never heard of the whiskey rebellion.

“Until one knows where he has been, he will walk in circles trying to figure out where he is going.”

– I. M. Kable

“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.”

– Edmund Burke

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IndyGuy
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:17am
“But, perhaps most important, he wanted the tax to advance and secure the power of the weak federal government.”….And it’s been down hill ever since…

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SREGN
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:07am
All government by man ends in tyranny.

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- DougHuffman
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:16am
  All rule by man ends in tyranny. When the law is in man’s heart there is no sin; the rule of law. Our Founding Fathers knew this and wrote their Constitution to restrain the evils of government by men.
  
  Good people ought to be armed as they will, with wits and Guns and the Truth. God Bless Bitter Clingers, damn progressives.
  
  Report this comment
- TheePolitinator
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:55am
  DOUGHUFFMAN to call libertarians a stripe of progressives and yet quote like one is being a hypocrite. Learn before you speak.
  
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ArmedAndReallyPissed
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 8:43am
What Was the First Product Ever Taxed By the Federal Government?………….Answer : Illegal.

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T-2
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 8:40am
“more as a measure of social discipline than as a source of revenue.” That’s how it all starts…

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- Eleutheria
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:14am
  No, arbitrary taxation always starts as a source of revenue shrouded in the false pretense of social discipline.
  
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DougHuffman
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 8:35am
Remember The Boston Tea Party as a general rebellion against a tyrant’s squeeze of the people. The power to tax is an absolutely corrupting power and the power to destroy.

Good people ought to be armed as they will, with wits and Guns and the Truth. God Bless Bitter Clingers, damn progs.

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- soybomb315_II
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:34am
  america fought a revolution over a couple percent tax…..
  
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- Max jones
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 10:19am
  SOYburger……I don’t think it was the money on the rebellion side, so much as the idea of oppression. people at that time were well aware of what a monarchy could do to them….they had just had enough of it. Kind of like the mood we are in, in this nation with our own ‘monarchy’.
  Soy…you are a libertarian right? How did you get so narrow minded? Most of your comments are very immature and petulant. like a child who believes his parents will never understand why he needs to have that particular prohibited treat.
  
  Report this comment
- soybomb315_II
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 8:10pm
  those are awfully strong words coming from someone who mostly says denigrating things to me for no reason. I am not a libertarian but if i were – it would not excuse the things you say
  
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fatsomann
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 8:33am
People need to be reminded that the government taxes to make their revenue. The government does not produce one thing except for more government. Oh yeah, headaches, heartburn, lies, frustration, more taxes, more government jobs,regulation…did I mention lies?

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- TheePolitinator
  Posted on December 11, 2012 at 9:58am
  Exactly, we are their boss NOT the other way around. They do nothing but get elected, lie, screw us all doing it, and leave office after 30 years millionaires.
  
  Lemmings will be lemmings.
  
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on December 11, 2012 at 8:28am
And now most people assume taxation of all kind is good so long as they get their ‘stuff’ from Obama.

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