The Whiskey Rebellion Flag 1794
Whiskey Rebellion Flag
The first real test of the new Federal Government of the United States was the Whiskey
Rebellion. To finance our new country the Federal government imposed an excise tax
on distilled spirits. Since coins and currency were scarce, whiskey served as an
important medium of exchange. In Western Pennsylvania, farmers refused to pay the
tax and attacked the collectors sent from the government. It is believed that this was
one of the flags that was used in the brief protest, which ended when our first President
George Washington called out 15,000 militia men to protect the tax collectors. There
were also reports of striped flags like the Sons of Liberty flag and modified Stars and
stripes flags being used in the violent protest over the right of the new national
government to levy taxes.