How the Whiskey Rebellion affected American's political views?

Answer 1

Whiskey was a cash crop to the western settlers. They could not ship their grain down the Mississippi River until it was opened to American trade in 1795. The cost of transporting the grain east over the mountains was too expensive. Converted into liquor, a horse could carry enough of the liquid to make the trip profitable. When Hamilton convinced Washington and Congress to pass a tax on whiskey, the profit to the western farmers dried up. Like Shays's Rebellion before, the western farmers rebelled against the tax by rioting in some of the river towns and roughing up the tax collectors. Washington, who had not supported the ideas behind Shays' Rebellion, saw an opportunity to show the power of the new federal government over the weakness of the Articles. Along with Hamilton, he led 15,000 troops to surpress the rebellion. Washington left the area when the farmers dispersed, but Hamilton rounded up several who were tried for treason and sentenced to death. Washington pardoned them, calling them "mental defectives." The rebellion was not much as far as military "battles" go, but the importance of the Whiskey Rebellion was political. The government asserted the power over the states to enforce Federal Laws by using troops, if necessary, that came from other states. Of course, the western farmers never supported the Federalists when they formed the Federalist Party.

Answer 2

Before this point, states took care of their own rebellions. But Washington brought in 13,000 strong militia from multiple states to crush the rebellions making rebellions a federal problem. From then on, this also won respect for the U.S.and showed that rebellions would not be tolerated. I know because I'm an ap us student mlhs

Answer 3

Well, the whiskey rebellion helped people realize that whiskey makes them drunk if consumed in large quantities.