The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794

In my recent release, TheCumberland Bride, I reference some unrest taking place in the Ohio Valley at the same time, related to a tax that had been levied on the sale of whiskey.

Farmers in the westernmost states had discovered that due to the high cost of shipping things back east (there were no wagon roads west of the Appalachian Mountains, yet, so they had to use pack horses or mules), they could make more money selling whiskey (distilled from grain grown west of the mountains) than from shipping the grain itself east. Alexander Hamilton, looking for ways to fund the newly formed American government and to defray the lingering cost of the war for independence from Britain, decided to levy a tax on the whiskey.

The farmers didn’t appreciate this new tax and felt they’d just fought for independence from that kind of heavyhandedness, that government was ultimately up to the people and if the people didn’t approve of the tax, well then, they shouldn’t have to pay it. Violence broke out all along the Ohio Valley, from northeastern Kentucky up into western Pennsylvania. Protesters threatened to burn Pittsburg to the ground.

President Washington felt the supremacy of the United States government, and the Constitution itself, was at stake, and so in the face of some vigorous protests, rode out to western Pennsylvania himself with a strong show of force. General Daniel Morgan, the tough, hard-bitten hero of the Battle of Cowpens almost 14 years before (during the Southern Campaign of the Revolution), was chosen to lead one wing of that army, and the Whiskey Rebellion subsided without a shot being fired. (Interestingly, one member of his force, which stayed in western Pennsylvania through 1795, was Meriwether Lewis.)

Several of those who had led the violence were arrested, but only two men were tried and sentenced to hangings. Washington eventually pardoned even those two. He was apparently satisfied that he’d upheld the Constitution, but many farmers still felt the government had looked out more for its own interests than those of its citizens.

The excise tax remained difficult to collect, and many just plain refused to pay it. Hamilton was disappointed that his plan to help fund the new government had failed. Many feel that the events surrounding the Whiskey Rebellion directly led to the formation of two political parties, the Federalists who believed more power should lie with the government to protect and serve, and the Republicans who believed more power should lie with the people. A few years later, when Jefferson was elected president, he repealed the Whiskey Tax, despite the popular view of the day that Washington’s actions against the Whiskey Rebellion were necessary and successful.

Has anything really changed since then? It’s an interesting commentary on the history of our country’s politics, to be sure.

Thanksgiving - Before the Football and Shopping

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Not for the turkey, or the football, or the shopping. Definitely not the shopping. But for what it stood for originally. Lest we forget:

By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these Statesto the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed—to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord—To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.


Go: Washington

George Washington - A Man of Faith

Throughout history, people have honored the memory of our founding father, hero of the Revolutionary War, and first president of the United States. But even though everyone agrees that George Washington was a man of character, recently some have question whether he was a man of faith or just had a general belief in a distant God.

This change in people's opinions about George Washington's faith isn't because some new historical evidence has come to light but because some historians want to prove our founding fathers did not rely upon God. It has become politically incorrect to consider George Washington as any more than a deist, someone who believes in a distant God who doesn’t interfere with the plans of man.

This theory became popular in 1963, when Professor Paul Boller wrote a book, George Washington and Religion. Until then nobody questioned Washington's strong faith in God. Professor Boller wrote, “Broadly speaking, of course, Washington can be classified as a Deist.” But there wasn't any evidence to support that statement.

The truth is that the evidence to support the view that George Washington was indeed a man of faith is overwhelming. Peter A. Lillback wrote a biography documenting George Washington's faith based on fifteen years of research called George Washington’s Sacred Fire.

Here’s a few things that prove George Washington had a strong Christian faith in God.

• At age thirteen, Washington transcribed and memorized "110 Rules for Young Gentlemen," written by Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits in the 1590's. They teach that man is God's servant who lives not for self, but for others. They became part of his character.

• When Washington was twenty, he wrote prayers to say each morning and evening. Every Sunday morning, he prayed, "...pardon, I beseech Thee, my sins; remove them from Thy presence, as far as the east is from the west, and accept me for the merits of Thy son, Jesus Christ..."

• Captain Washington, at the age of twenty-three, was caught in a surprise ambush by the French and Indians near what is now Pittsburgh. Every British and American officer was shot except for Washington. He rode through the battlefield numerous times without being hit. Later Indians who had been in the battle said they believed His God protected him because many of them aimed straight at him, but it was as if there was a shield around him. Washington later wrote to his brother, "By the all powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation, for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me."

• During the Revolutionary War, General Washington, Commander and Chief of the Continental Army, told his troops: "The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance or the most abject submission. We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die."

• As Commander and Chief, Washington pushed for army chaplains and required church attendance among the soldiers.

• At one point in the war, British General Howe had trapped Washington and his 8,000 troops on Brooklyn Heights, ready to crush them the next morning. Washington gathered every vessel from fishing to row boats and spent all night ferrying his army across the East River. By morning, many troops were still exposed to the British. This gave the British a chance to win the war. But the fog that almost always lifts from the river in the mornings, stayed thick and covered Washington’s retreat until the entire army escaped.

• In 1777 at Valley Forge, a dozen soldiers died a day in the freezing cold. They lacked supplies such as blankets or shoes. A Quaker named Isaac Potts reported seeing Washington on his knees in the snow praying aloud for his beloved country. He thanked God for exalting him to the head of a great nation which was fighting at fearful odds. Potts told his wife, "Till now I have thought that a Christian and a solider were characters incompatible, but if George Washington not be a man of God I am mistaken, and still more I shall be disappointed in God does not through him perform some great thing for this country."

• On May 5, 1778 Washington learned the French would join America as allies. The General told his troops, "It having pleased the Almighty Ruler of the universe to defend the cause of the United American States, and finally to raise up a powerful friend among the princes of the earth, to establish our liberty, and independence upon a lasting foundation, it becomes us to set apart a day for gratefully acknowledging the divine goodness..."

• While encamped on the banks of a river, Washington was approached by Delaware Indian chiefs who desired that their youth be trained in American schools. In Washington's response, he first told them that "Congress... will look on them as on their own children." That is, we would train their children as if they were our own. He then commended the chiefs for their decision: You do well to wish to learn our arts and our ways of life and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.

• In 1781, General Washington's southern army defeated a detachment of British troops. Lord Cornwallis was infuriated and began pursuing the outnumbered Americans. He waited the night at the Catawba River, which the U.S. troops had crossed just two hours earlier. Miraculously, a storm arose during the night causing the river to be uncrossable for five days. Cornwallis nearly overtook Americans at the Yadkin River, but another flood arose, allowing Americans to escape.

• The French navy seized control of the Chesapeake Aug. 30, 1781, driving out British ships. Washington rejoiced and besieged Cornwallis' stronghold at Yorktown. With no ships to escape upon, Cornwallis surrendered.

• Washington wrote Congress, "I take a particular pleasure in acknowledging that the interposing Hand of Heaven...has been most conspicuous and remarkable."

• During the oath of office, when Washington became president, he chose to take the oath with a Bible.

• President Washington often spoke on the importance of prayer and signed the first official Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in US history.

We can have confidence in the fact that faith in God was very important to President George Washington and that he was a strong Christian.

The Father of the Father of Our Country

Susan F. Craft

 

Augustine Washington

Americans often refer to President George Washington as the Father of Our Country. But, who was his father?

President Washington’s father, Augustine Washington, the son of a militia captain and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, was a member of the landed gentry and a tobacco planter  in the Colony of Virginia.

He was born in 1694, and his own father died when he was only four years old. He inherited a thousand acres on Bridges Creek in Westmoreland County.

Mary Ball Washington

Over the years, through his marriages and through purchases, he acquired even more land. He had four children by his first wife, Jane Butler, but only two of the children survived to adulthood, Lawrence and Augustine, Jr.  

President George Washington

            When he was 37, the widower Augustine married Mary Ball, and they had six children: George was their first child, then Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred.

            Augustine was active in politics, and at one time was a justice of the peace and a county sheriff and was active in his Anglican Church.

Augustine died in 1743 when George was 11 years old. Mary managed the property George inherited until he came of age.

I hope everyone had a Happy Father's Day last week. And I hope my Christian friends remembered to give thanks to our Heavenly Father.