- Taxes.

Few words in the English language evoke such testy responses.

For some, taxation is seen as a necessary civic responsibility to provide infrastructure and public services.

For others, Taxes are symbolic of wasteful government overreach.

These debates are nothing new to American society.

After all, the Revolutionary War was rooted in colonist anger against taxation without representation in Parliament.

But fewer citizens today are aware of another tax dispute that erupted in Pennsylvania following America's victory over Great Britain.

This fierce uprising known as the Whiskey Rebellion stands among the first of many internal growing pains endured by the infant United States.

Long-standing local customs were challenged.

Neighbors turned on neighbors.

Federal forces intervened in regional affairs, and the risks were immense.

(upbeat music) The Constitution became the official framework of the young United States in 1788.

The new national government sought to assume all war debts accrued by the 13 states during the revolution.

This strategy was chiefly promoted by Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury.

Whereas founding father Thomas Jefferson envisioned a nation of virtuous self-reliant farmers, Hamilton aspired to forge a country fueled by industry, exports and government collaboration.

The two men engaged in fierce rhetorical battles with slanderous partisan news outlets backing them up.

Sound at all familiar?

Reluctant to raise high taxes already on the books, Hamilton set his sights on whiskey manufacturers as a fresh stream of revenue.

His intention was to tax not the sale of whiskey but its very production.

Not anticipating the hostilities to follow, Congress passed the Excise Whiskey Tax of 1791.

Its ripple effects would be far-reaching and incite violent division.

Farmers of Western Pennsylvania had feared such a move for years.

In the western part of the Commonwealth, grain cultivation was a pillar of commerce.

Whiskey had multiple applications beyond marry-making, and everybody of all ages drank it, even children.

Furthermore, whiskey was a form of currency used to pay off laborers and contract employees in rural areas.

All in all, the alcohol ex-spirits were easier and more lucrative to transport than raw grain.

The excise tax upended that tradition, and there'd be held to pay.

Settler families felt nothing less than betrayed.

No longer could distillers afford to ship their goods through the Allegheny Mountains to larger markets.

Many accused President George Washington of embracing the same oppressive tactics used by Parliament years prior.

Had Americans merely replaced King George III with King George I?

This regressive tax had the potential of ruining the barter system that defined frontier life.

Fuel was poured on the fire when word was announced that tax evaders would be tried in state courts rather than local courts.

At this desperate hour, Pennsylvania farmers lashed out against collectors tarring and feathering them in certain instances.

The protestors, many of whom served in the American Revolution, formed into militias and now found themselves at odds with the very nation they helped create.

The feud reached fever pitch in July, 1794.

John Neville, a local property owner and tax collector helped serve writs alongside a federal marshal.

Consequently, an angry mob assembled at his residence.

In an agitated state of self-defense, Neville shot one of the assailant.

A detachment of soldiers coming to Neville's aid further inflamed the armed standoff resulting in several participants being killed.

The soldiers eventually capitulated and the home was burned.

By August of 1794, the mob grew into the thousands.

The insurgents planned to march on Pittsburgh in a dramatic show of force.

President Washington ultimately decided to counter the protestors by mobilizing his own military force of some 13,000 federalized militia.

The troops bivouacked in Carlisle, likely on the grounds of what is now Dickinson College.

There, Washington reviewed his troops.

This was the only time in American history when a sitting president dawned a uniform to take active command of troops in the field.

That October, Washington's forces pushed west to Bedford.

There, the president occupied the stone house of David Espy, which still stands today.

He recognized his federalized troops were not going to encounter fierce resistance by the rebels.

The defiance of the protestors had withered in the face of Washington's advance.

They scattered into the hills and their homes.

The Whiskey Rebellion had at last ended.

But what did it all mean?

Was this merely a backwood squabble over money or were there larger issues at play?

Ultimately, Washington's suppression of the uprising upheld the supremacy of the federal government.

The incident also led to significant questions about the nature of protest, freedom of speech and citizen's relationship with the state.

Despite Hamilton's desire to harshly punish the rebels, only two were convicted of treason.

They were thereafter pardoned by Washington who wished to calm the waters of national discord.

The excise tax, however, remained the law of the land until it was repealed by Thomas Jefferson in 1802.

The legacies of the Whiskey Rebellion are all around us, especially as we consider our role as taxpayers and active citizens.

In Pennsylvania, the event is commemorated with museums, historical markers, themed taverns and even community festivals.

But these innocent means of remembrance should never conceal the dangers that existed in the moment when Pennsylvanians went to war with their fellow citizens over politics.

When contemplating the then or the now, we are also reminded of a constant in the Commonwealth's history.

Pennsylvanians love a good stiff drink.

To learn more about this volatile time, check out William Hogeland's book, "The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington Alexander Hamilton and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty."

We'll see you next time on "Past PA." Until then, stay curious.

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