How did George Washington react to the Whiskey Rebellion?

s president, George Washington believed that the federal government needed to remain strong enough to prevent state or regional interests from gaining too much power. He demonstrated this belief in his reaction to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. In this incident, the people of western Pennsylvania staged a violent protest against the federal government's enforcement of a tax on whiskey production. (You may be asking yourself, "Why were farmers so interested in whiskey"? Good question. Whiskey is an alcoholic drink made from corn. The farmers grew the corn to make the whiskey.) Anyway, Washington ordered nearly 13,000 federal soldiers into western Pennsylvania to crush this rebellion. In his 1796 Farewell Address, Washington restated his objection to the rise of powerful state and regional interests and to political parties. In this lesson, you’ll read an except from his Sixth Annual Address to Congress in November, 1794 (right after the Whiskey Rebellion) and another from his Farewell Address.