In 1791, a proud and hearty band of rabble-rousers in western Pennsylvania protested the first tax ever to be levied on a domestic product by America's new federal government—a tax on the sale of whiskey. Today, the Whiskey Rebellion is primarily remembered as one of the country's first populist uprisings—and one that presaged many future clashes between the American heartland and government elites.
However, debates over whether Alexander Hamilton's whiskey tax was a prudent revenue-raising scheme or an egregious instance of governmental overreach often overlook what was not in dispute during the rebellion. Namely, that Americans have a right to make their own liquor.
