Angered by an excise tax imposed on whiskey in 1791 by the federal government, farmers in the western counties of Pennsylvania engaged in a series of attacks on excise agents.

The tariff effectively eliminated any profit by the farmers from the sale or barter of an important cash crop, and became the lightning rod for a wide variety of grievances by the settlers of the region against the federal government.

While citizens in the east did not find it difficult to abide by the concept that individual states were “subservient to the country,” people west of the mountains were less accepting of decisions made by the central government.

The rebel farmers continued their attacks, rioting in river towns and roughing up tax collectors until the so-called “insurrection” flared into the open in July of 1794 when a federal marshal was attacked in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Almost at the same time several hundred men attacked the residence of the regional inspector, burning his home, barn and several outbuildings. Pittsburgh was another scene of disorder by enraged mobs.

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