Activity 1. Give Students Preliminary Notes and Timeline Leading up to the Whiskey Rebellion

Activity 1. Give students preliminary notes and timeline leading up to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 including what the tax was and the purpose for it The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 is regarded as one of the first tests of federal authority in United States history and of the young nation's commitment to the constitutional rule of law. Introduce students to the circumstances surrounding this pivotal event, referring for background to the George Washington's diary of his campaign against the rebels,"The Whiskey Insurrection, from Washington's Diaries." The following timeline, 1. March 1791: Federalists in Congress succeed in passing an excise tax on domestically distilled spirits (i.e., liquor) and provide an elaborate system of local inspectors and collection officers to insure that the tax is paid. 2. September 1792: The excise tax provokes opposition in frontier areas, where spirits were distilled primarily for personal use, not for sale, and where a tradition of militant individualism objected to the presence of tax inspectors. In response, George Washington issues a presidential proclamation condemning activities that tend "to obstruct the operation of the laws of the United States for raising a revenue upon spirits distilled within the same." 3. July 1794: Following unsuccessful petitions against the excise tax, an armed group in western Pennsylvania attacks a federal marshal when he attempts to serve papers on those who have not registered their stills as required by law. Two days later, insurgents burn the home of the local tax collector. As the uprising spreads, government agents and local citizens sympathetic to the government become the target of violence and harassment. 4. August 2, 1794: Washington confers with Pennsylvania officials and his cabinet to set a course for meeting this emergency. He decides to lay the matter before a Justice of the Supreme Court in order to determine, as one cabinet member wrote, "all the means vested in the President for suppressing the progress of the mischief." Two days later the court rules that circumstances in western Pennsylvania cannot be controlled by civil authorities and warrant a military response. 5. August 7, 1794: Washington calls up the militia in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia to assemble a force of nearly 13,000 men, "feeling the deepest regret for the occasion, but withal, the most solemn conviction, that the essential interests of the Union demand it." He also offers amnesty to all insurgents who "disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes" by September 1. 6. August 21, 1794: Washington sends three federal commissioners into western Pennsylvania in a final attempt to resolve the situation peacefully. Their efforts are met with violent resistance, and on September 24 they report that "there is no probability that . . [the laws] can at present be enforced by the usual course of civil authority, and that some more competent force is necessary to cause the laws to be duly executed." 7. September 25, 1794: Washington issues a proclamation ordering the militia to assemble and march against the insurgents: "Every form of conciliation not inconsistent with the being of Government, has been adopted without effect . . . [and] Government is set at defiance, the contest being whether a small portion of the United States shall dictate to the whole union, and at the expence of those, who desire peace, indulge a desperate ambition; Now therefore I, George Washington, . . . deploring that the American name should be sullied by the outrages of citizens on their own Government; . . . but resolved . . . to reduce the refractory to a due subordination to the law; Do Hereby declare . . . that a force . . . adequate to the exigency, is already in motion to the scene of disaffection; . . . And I do, moreover, exhort all individuals, officers, and bodies of men, to contemplate with abhorrence the measures leading directly or indirectly to those crimes, which produce this resort to military coercion."

Activity 2. Consult the Constitution The Whiskey Rebellion raised questions about governmental authority under the new Constitution. Was the President was empowered to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed" (Article II, Section 3)? Was Congress required "to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions" (Article I, Section 8, Number 15)? Or was a local matter where the state should deal with it on its own (as implied by the Tenth Amendment)? Have students consult Article I, and Article II of the US Constitution. Conduct an Inquiry-oriented activity by asking students open ended questions on the interpretations of the Constitution and Where the responsibility lies for intervention.

Activity 3. Read Washington's Diary Turn from these constitutional issues to Washington's handling of this crisis by having students read his diary for the period from September 30 to October 20. Have the students Focus attention on Washington's entry for October 6 to 12, where he describes a meeting with two representatives from the insurgent region, William Findley and David Redick, both prosperous landowners who had infiltrated the rebel movement. The class will decide into study groups and have each group outline the arguments made on either side. Have members of the class raise questions about the positions each side took and about options they might have considered.

Activity 4. Discussion reporting on closing chapters of Whiskey Rebellion After students have produced and shared their newspapers, discuss in class how each side might have reported on the closing chapters in the Whiskey Rebellion: 1. November 17, 1794: Hamilton writes to Washington from western Pennsylvania that "the list of prisoners has been very considerably increased, probably to the amount of 150. . . . Subsequent intelligence shows that there is no regular assemblage of the fugitives . . . only small vagrant parties . . . affording no point of Attack. Every thing is urging for the return of the troops." 2. November 19, 1794: Hamilton notifies Washington that the army "is generally in motion homeward," leaving behind a regiment to maintain order. 3. July 10, 1795: Washington issues a pardon to those insurgents who were taken prisoner but were not yet sentenced or indicted. By this time, most had already been acquitted for lack of evidence.

Activity 6. Homework For homework assign a written response to the question below. This can be a thorough paragraph with some solid evidence from the documents and class discussion or it may be a comprehensive five paragraph essay depending on your needs at the time and the skill level of your students. Was President Washington's decision to put down the Whiskey Rebellion the best course of action for the United States at that time?