Book Review: The Whiskey Rebellion
Whiskey history is simply history. Due to lingering Prohibitionist sentiments, we don’t learn much about the role that alcohol has played in American and world history, but the history still exists. In 1791, the fledgling United States of America was still trying to establish an identity and was ripe with debt accrued from the Revolutionary War. Alexander Hamilton served as Secretary of the Treasury and schemed to pay down the national debt by imposing an excise tax on the distillation of whiskey. Hamilton’s hope was to establish a strong federal government through taxation, but his whiskey tax brought our young nation to the brink of collapse not long after gaining independence. Brady J. Crytzer tells the story of this early chaos in The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis.
The 1791 excise tax on the distillation of whiskey was far from popular in any region of the United States, but perhaps nowhere loathed it more than those in western Pennsylvania. Crytzer provides the necessary contextual information to understand how and why common men on the western frontier rebelled against the federal government from 1791 to 1795 over a tax on whiskey. The author explains that many of the rebels were veterans of the American Revolution who were not far removed from fighting a war with Great Britain over taxation. The whiskey excise tax was to be paid in hard currency, including regions that largely operated on a barter economy without much hard currency available. The Whiskey Rebellion existed in a time in which America’s infrastructure was not yet well-developed and getting western grain to the east was a difficult and expensive task. For those who did manage to ship grain east, much of it was prone to spoilage during the trip… but whiskey didn’t spoil.
Crytzer does a masterful job in detailing the culture of the region and the antecedent events that sparked the Whiskey Rebellion. Numerous books exist that go into far greater detail on the play-by-play of the entire saga, however, Crytzer’s book does a great job of distilling the events down to a much more manageable account that can easily be read and digested in a shorter period of time. The author hits all of the vital names, places, dates, and events required to have a good conversation with anyone regarding the Rebellion. Adding what other books do not, Crytzer provides modern information regarding places and specific buildings that were involved with the Whiskey Rebellion. Many of the buildings have not withstood the test of time, but the book still provides as much information as possible for those who are interested visiting the historic region and sites.
The Whiskey Rebellion is the story of simple men attempting to navigate the fine balance between belonging to a federal government and maintaining local autonomy. The early stages of the tale involve gun fights, spies, and the use of tar and feathers. The Rebellion progressed to the point of President George Washington personally led 13,000 federal troops into western Pennsylvania to squash the Rebellion. This is the only time in history that an American President has ever personally led troops into a potential battle, and it was all in the name of whiskey. It’s also worth noting that the 13,000 troops raised to put down the Rebellion was larger than any single army of the American Revolution. If the young federal government did not crush the Rebellion, it would have been a major blow to the authority of the new government and the history of America would have been forever changed.
Whiskey history is American history.
The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis is a fun book for any whiskey enthusiast looking to take that interest down a new rabbit hole. It’s fascinating that the American school system barely gives any attention to an event that threatened the young Republic, due to the association with alcohol. Other fine books on the topic span hundreds of pages, but Crytzer does the story justice in 176 pages. It is well worth your time.
A+ / $25 [BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON]
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