Whiskey Rebellion

American  

noun

U.S. History.

1. a revolt of settlers in western Pennsylvania in 1794 against a federal excise tax on whiskey: suppressed by militia called out by President George Washington to establish the authority of the federal government.

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Example Sentences

In the early 1790s the Whiskey Rebellion against federal taxation raised the specter of national disintegration.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

This wasn’t “an argument between genteel parties in Congress,” William Hogeland writes in his history, The Whiskey Rebellion, “but…a guerrilla war on the country’s ragged margin, our first war for the American soul.”

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

“At no point has a tax protest that I’m aware of — other than the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion — been sufficiently widespread or strong enough to cause any kind of national response,” she said.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026

As violence spread, Washington — in his second term as president — personally led a militia force to quell what became known as the Whiskey Rebellion.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 27, 2025

The catalyst for the change was the Whiskey Rebellion, a popular insurgency in four counties of western Pennsylvania protesting an excise tax on whiskey.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis