Editing Whiskey Rebellion (section)

== Legacy ==
[[File:JamesMillerHouse.jpg|thumb|The James Miller House on the Oliver Miller Homestead located in South Park Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  In 1794, the first fired gunshots of the Whiskey Rebellion occurred on the property when revenue officers served a writ on William Miller. Shots were fired but the officers were not injured. Later, William was pardoned.]]
The Washington administration's suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion met with widespread popular approval.{{sfn |Elkins |McKitrick |1993 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/ageoffederalism00elki/page/481/mode/2up 481–84]}} The episode demonstrated that the new national government had the willingness and ability to suppress violent resistance to its laws. It was, therefore, viewed by the Washington administration as a success, a view that has generally been endorsed by historians.{{sfn |Boyd |1994 |p=78}} The Washington administration and its supporters usually failed to mention, however, that the whiskey excise remained difficult to collect, and that many westerners continued to refuse to pay the tax.{{sfn |Tachau |1985 |pp=97–118}} The events contributed to the formation of political parties in the United States, a process already underway.<ref>{{harvnb |Slaughter |1986 |p=221}}; {{harvnb |Boyd |1994 |p=80}}</ref> The whiskey tax was repealed after [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s [[Democratic-Republican Party|Republican Party]] came to power in 1801, which opposed the [[Federalist Party]] of Hamilton and Washington.{{sfn |Hogeland |2006 |p=242}}

The Rebellion raised the question of what kinds of protests were permissible under the new Constitution. Legal historian [[Christian G. Fritz]] argued that there was not yet a consensus about [[Popular sovereignty in the United States|sovereignty]] in the United States, even after ratification of the Constitution. Federalists believed that the government was sovereign because it had been established by the people; radical protest actions were permissible during the American Revolution but were no longer legitimate, in their thinking. But the Whiskey Rebels and their defenders believed that the Revolution had established the people as a "collective sovereign", and the people had the collective right to change or challenge the government through extra-constitutional means.<ref>{{cite book | last = Fritz | first =  Christian G. Fritz | title=American Sovereigns: the People and America's Constitutional Tradition Before the Civil War | date = April 27, 2009 | isbn= 978-0-521-12560-4 | publisher = Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

Historian Steven Boyd argued that the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion prompted anti-Federalist westerners to finally accept the Constitution and to seek change by voting for Republicans rather than resisting the government. Federalists, for their part, came to accept the public's role in governance and no longer challenged the [[freedom of assembly]] and the [[right to petition]].{{sfn |Boyd |1994 |pp=80–83}} Historian [[Carol Berkin]] argues that the episode, in the long run, strengthened US nationalism because the people appreciated how well Washington handled the rebels without resorting to tyranny.<ref>Carol Berkin (2017). ''A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism''. pp. 7–80.</ref>

=== In popular culture ===
[[File:Susanna Rowson crop.jpg| 100px|left | thumb |Susanna Rowson]]

Soon after the Whiskey Rebellion, actress-playwright [[Susanna Rowson]] wrote a stage musical about the insurrection entitled ''The Volunteers'', with music by composer [[Alexander Reinagle]]. The play is now lost, but the songs survive and suggest that Rowson's interpretation was pro-Federalist. The musical celebrates as American heroes the militiamen who put down the rebellion, the "volunteers" of the title.<ref>{{cite book | first = Anita | last = Vickers | title = The New Nation | series = American Popular Culture Through History | date = 2009 | page =  213 | isbn = 978-0-313-31264-9 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=91Wq24OwLWgC}}</ref> President Washington and [[Martha Washington]] attended a performance of the play in Philadelphia in January 1795.<ref>{{cite book | first = Susan | last = Branson | title = These Fiery Frenchified Dames: Women and Political Culture in Early National Philadelphia | publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press | date = 2001 | page = 181 }}</ref>

[[W. C. Fields]] recorded a comedy track in [[Les Paul]]'s studio in 1946, shortly before his death, entitled "The Temperance Lecture" for the album ''W. C. Fields&nbsp;... His Only Recording Plus 8 Songs by Mae West''. The bit discussed Washington and his role in putting down the Whiskey Rebellion, and Fields wondered aloud whether "George put down a little of the vile stuff too."<ref name="Smith1998">{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Ronald L.|title=Comedy Stars at 78 RPM: Biographies and Discographies of 89 American and British Recording Artists, 1896–1946|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiJaAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-0462-9|page=59}}</ref>

[[L. Neil Smith]] wrote the [[alternate history]] novel ''[[The Probability Broach]]'' in 1980 as part of his [[North American Confederacy]] Series. In it, [[Albert Gallatin]] joins the rebellion in 1794 to benefit the farmers, rather than the fledgling US government as he did in reality. This results in the rebellion becoming a Second American Revolution. This eventually leads to George Washington being overthrown and executed for treason, the abrogation of the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]], and Gallatin being proclaimed the second president and serving as president until 1812.<ref>John J. Pierce, ''When World Views Collide: A Study in Imagination and Evolution'' (Greenwood Press, 1989), 163.</ref><ref>Peter Josef Mühlbauer, "Frontiers and dystopias: Libertarian ideology in science fiction", in Dieter Plehwe et al., eds., ''Neoliberal Hegemony: A Global Critique'' (Taylor & Francis, 2006), 162.</ref>

[[David Liss]]' 2008 novel ''[[The Whiskey Rebels]]'' covers many of the circumstances during 1788–92 that led to the 1794 Rebellion.  The fictional protagonists are cast against an array of historical persons, including [[Alexander Hamilton]], [[William Duer (Continental Congressman)|William Duer]], [[Anne Bingham]], [[Hugh Henry Brackenridge]], [[Aaron Burr]], and [[Philip Freneau]].

In 2011, the Whiskey Rebellion Festival was started in [[Washington, Pennsylvania]].  This annual event is held the 2nd weekend in July and includes live music, food, and historic reenactments, featuring the "tar and feathering" of the tax collector.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wpxi.com/news/washington-co-festival-marks-whiskey-rebellion/201550336|title=Washington Co. Festival Marks Whiskey Rebellion|publisher=[[WPXI]]|date=August 1, 2011|access-date=March 23, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.whiskeyrebellionfestival.com/about.html|title= 2015 Whiskey Rebellion Festival|publisher= Whiskey Rebellion Festival|access-date= February 11, 2017|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150402135616/http://www.whiskeyrebellionfestival.com/about.html|archive-date= April 2, 2015|df= mdy-all}}</ref>

[[File:Flag of the Whiskey Rebellion.svg|thumb|right|"Whiskey Rebellion Flag" purported to have been used by the rebels]]

A purported flag of the rebels, a blue banner with 13 white stars and an eagle holding a red and white ribbon, has become popular in [[Libertarianism|Libertarian]] circles, and with those dissatisfied with the federal government in general. However, due to the design of the flag, having 13 stars when there were 15 states, and the lack of primary sources with an account of the flag's use, has led historians to speculate the flag might have either never have existed, was made in 1894 for the 100th anniversary, or was used by Federal forces.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Whiskey Rebellion - History, Causes, & More - Gentlemen Ranters |url=https://www.gentlemenranters.com/whiskey-rebellion/ |website=www.gentlemenranters.com |access-date=October 9, 2023 |date=March 10, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Whiskey Rebellion: Definition, Causes & Flag |url=https://www.history.com/topics/early-us/whiskey-rebellion#whiskey-rebellion-flag |website=[[History (American TV network)|History]] |access-date=October 9, 2023 |language=en |date=June 21, 2023}}</ref>

Other works which include events of the Whiskey Rebellion:

* ''[[The Latimers|The Latimers: A Tale of the Western Insurrection of 1794]]'' by clergyman [[Henry Christopher McCook]] (1898)
* ''[[The Delectable Country]]'' by Leland Baldwin (1939)
* {{Annotated link|Copper Kettle|"Copper Kettle"}}, also recorded by [[Chet Atkins]], [[Bob Dylan]], and [[Gillian Welch]]
* Margery Evendern's young adult novel ''[[Wilderness Boy]]'' (1955)