<P> The Whiskey Rebellion ( also known as the Whiskey Insurrection ) was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington . The so - called `` whiskey tax '' was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government . It became law in 1791 , and was intended to generate revenue for the war debt incurred during the Revolutionary War . The tax applied to all distilled spirits , but American whiskey was by far the country 's most popular distilled beverage in the 18th century , so the excise became widely known as a `` whiskey tax '' . Farmers of the western frontier were accustomed to distilling their surplus rye , barley , wheat , corn , or fermented grain mixtures into whiskey . These farmers resisted the tax . In these regions , whiskey often served as a medium of exchange . Many of the resisters were war veterans who believed that they were fighting for the principles of the American Revolution , in particular against taxation without local representation , while the federal government maintained that the taxes were the legal expression of Congressional taxation powers . </P>
<P> The Whiskey Rebellion ( also known as the Whiskey Insurrection ) was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington . The so - called `` whiskey tax '' was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government . It became law in 1791 , and was intended to generate revenue for the war debt incurred during the Revolutionary War . The tax applied to all distilled spirits , but American whiskey was by far the country 's most popular distilled beverage in the 18th century , so the excise became widely known as a `` whiskey tax '' . Farmers of the western frontier were accustomed to distilling their surplus rye , barley , wheat , corn , or fermented grain mixtures into whiskey . These farmers resisted the tax . In these regions , whiskey often served as a medium of exchange . Many of the resisters were war veterans who believed that they were fighting for the principles of the American Revolution , in particular against taxation without local representation , while the federal government maintained that the taxes were the legal expression of Congressional taxation powers . </P>
what was the outcome of the whiskey rebellion
what was the outcome of the whiskey rebellion
in 1791
in 1791