Contents

Tariff of 1791

United States civic duties on distilled spirits

Tariff of 1791

Other short titles	1791 Excise Whiskey Tax Whiskey Tax Act of 1791
Long title	An Act repealing, after the last day of June next, the duties hereto-fore laid upon Distilled Spirits imported from abroad, and laying others in their stead; and also upon Spirits distilled within the United States, and for appropriating the same.
Nicknames	Excise Whiskey Tax of 1791
Enacted by	the 1st United States Congress
Effective	March 3, 1791
Citations
Public law	Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 1–15
Statutes at Large	1 Stat. 199, Chap. 15
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 110 Passed the House on January 27, 1791 (35-21) Passed the Senate on February 12, 1791 (20-5) Agreed to by the House on February 18, 1791 (35-21) and by the Senate on February 23, 1791 (14-9) Signed into law by President George Washington on March 3, 1791

Tariff of 1791orExcise Whiskey Tax of 1791 was a United States statute establishing a taxation policy to further reduce Colonial America public debt as assumed by the residuals of American Revolution. The Act of Congress imposed dutiesortariffs on domestic and imported distilled spirits generating government revenue while fortifying the Federalist Era.

The H.R. 110 tariff legislation originated as a panacea for the Hamiltonian economic program. The Debt Assumption policy was introduced as a series of public credit and national debt reports authored by Alexander Hamilton from 1790 to 1795.^[1][2]

Opposition of Federalist Economic Plan[edit]

Colonial America was observant of the militia insurrection in response to the progressive debt collection and tax rulings charged by the Federalist taxation plan.

Shays' Rebellion and Whiskey Rebellion were notable uprisings where American colonists, often referred as the anti-federalists, express their sentiments concerning the public debt reconciliation plan while the newly formed government fulfilled the demands of Funding Act of 1790 during the late 18th century.^[3] The colonial protests were necessitated by the enforcement of the Federalist taxation plan as submitted by Alexander Hamilton on January 14, 1790 better known as the First Report on the Public Credit.^[4][5][6]

See also[edit]

Colonial and European Ambassadors, Diplomats, Financiers, Merchants, and Statesmen

References[edit]

Associated Distilled Spirits Statutes[edit]

Chronology of 18th century colonial laws related to the duties or tariffs applied to domestic and imported distilled spirits.

18th Century Documents Related to Colonial Debt[edit]

• Franklin, Benjamin (September 16, 1779). "French Loan Certificate". Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Franklin, Benjamin (February 29, 1780). "French Loan Certificate". Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Washington, George (January 2, 1781). "Estimate on the National Debt". George Washington Papers: Series 4, General Correspondence. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress.
• Franklin, Benjamin (May 15, 1781). "French Loan Certificate". Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Jefferson, Thomas (1790). "French Debt". Thomas Jefferson Papers: Series 1: General Correspondence. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress.
• Jefferson, Thomas (March 11, 1792). "Alexander Hamilton, March 11, 1792, Tariff, in Thomas Jefferson's Hand". Thomas Jefferson Papers: Series 1: General Correspondence. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress.

Correspondence of Alexander Hamilton & George Washington[edit]

• Hamilton, Alexander (July 29, 1792). "To Alexander Hamilton from George Washington, 29 July 1792" [New Regulation of Allowances]. Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Hamilton, Alexander (September 1, 1792). "To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 1 September 1792" [Excise Law in Western Survey of District of Pennsylvania]. Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Hamilton, Alexander (June 15, 1793). "Enclosure Report on Obtaining New Foreign Loans, 15 June 1793". Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Hamilton, Alexander (April 21, 1794). "To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 21 April 1794" [Amsterdam Commissioners Announcing the Undertaking of Loan]. Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Hamilton, Alexander (April 25, 1794). "From Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, 25 April 1794" [Holland Loan of 1794]. Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Hamilton, Alexander (August 5, 1794). "From Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, 5 August 1794" [Disagreeable Crisis in Western Counties of Pennsylvania]. Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Hamilton, Alexander (September 2, 1794). "From Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, 2 September 1794" [A Spirit Hostile to Execution of the Laws]. Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Hamilton, Alexander (January 20, 1795). "To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 20 January 1795" [Installment Payments of Foreign Debts]. Founders Online. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

Bibliography[edit]

• Oldmixon, John; Moll, Herman (1708). The British Empire in America - Vol. I. Vol. I. London, G.B.: John Nicholson and Benjamin Tooke. OCLC 1041654741 – via Internet Archive.
• Oldmixon, John (1741). The British Empire in America - Vol. II. Vol. II. London, G.B.: J. Brotherton and J. Clarke. OCLC 65347255 – via Internet Archive.
• Fothergill, John (1765). Considerations Relative to the North American Colonies. London, G.B.: Henry Kent. OCLC 83457228 – via Internet Archive.
• Jenyns, Soame (1765). Objections to the Taxation of our American Colonies, by the Legislature of Great Britain, Briefly Consider'd. London, G.B.: J. Wilkie. OCLC 65351127 – via Internet Archive.
• Hopkins, Stephen (1766). The Grievances of the American Colonies Candidly Examined. London, G.B.: J. Almon, Opposite Burlington House in Picadilly. OCLC 65350684 – via Internet Archive.
• Brackenridge, Henry M. (1859). "History of the Western Insurrection in Western Pennsylvania, 1794". Internet Archive. Pittsburgh, Penn.: W.S. Haven. OCLC 1383306.
• Edler, Friedrich (1911). "The Dutch Republic and the American Revolution". Internet Archive. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Press. OCLC 186717786.
• Perkins, James Breck (1911). "France In The American Revolution". Internet Archive. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company. OCLC 177577.
• Wiley, Richard T. (1912). "The Whiskey Insurrection: A General View". Internet Archive. Elizabeth, Penn.: Herald Printing Co. OCLC 9327050.
• Guthrie, William D. (1916). "America's Debt to France: The Most Unalterable Gratitude". Internet Archive. New York: American Society for the Relief of French War Orphans. OCLC 6472958.
• Penniman, James H. (1921). "I, Our Debt To France; II, What Lafayette Did For America". Internet Archive. Philadelphia, Penn.: Philadelphia. OCLC 5962930.
• Washington Lafayette Institution (1926). "Our Debt To France". Internet Archive. New York City: The Washington Lafayette Institution. OCLC 1721177.
• Miller, John C. (1960). "The Federalist Era 1789-1801". Internet Archive. New York: Harper & Brothers. OCLC 425211.
• Elkins, Stanley M.; McKitrick, Eric (1993). The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788-1800. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195093810. OCLC 26720733.
• Beer, Samuel H. (1993). To Make a Nation: The Rediscovery of American Federalism. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674893177. OCLC 25631558.

Historical Video Archives[edit]

• "The Whiskey Rebellion". Internet Archive. Pathe Exchange. 1924.
• "George Washington and The Whiskey Rebellion: Testing the Constitution". Internet Archive. Learning Corporation of America. 1974.
• Whiskey RebelliononYouTube
• The Crises of the 1790s & the Birth of American NationalismonYouTube
• The Anti-Federalists Papers playlist on YouTube
• The Federalist Papers playlist on YouTube
• Alexander Hamilton Funds the National DebtonYouTube
• Alexander Hamilton: First Secretary of the TreasuryonYouTube
• Alexander Hamilton, Shaping the New NationonYouTube

External links[edit]

• Works related to Tariff of 1791 at Wikisource
• Media related to Taxation in the United States at Wikimedia Commons
• Media related to Whiskey Rebellion at Wikimedia Commons
• Hoover, Michael. "The Whiskey Rebellion". Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau ~ Public Information. U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• Knott, Stephen (4 October 2016). "George Washington: Domestic Affairs". Miller Center Office of Domestic Affairs. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia.
• Lucas, Stephen E. (4 November 2015). "The Stylistic Artistry of the Declaration of Independence". America's Founding Documents. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Scanlon, Donna (December 2009). "The Whiskey Rebellion". Business Reference Section. The Library of Congress.
• Levinson, Joseph I. (April 2002). "Temperance, Taxation, and Turmoil: Federal Regulation of Intoxicating Beverages 1789-1918". Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) at Harvard Law School. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University.
• Tillman, Benjamin R. (May 1, 1894). "Our Whiskey Rebellion". Internet Archive. The North American Review.
• "U.S. Debt and Foreign Loans, 1775–1795". Office of the Historian. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of State.
• "The 1791 Excise Whiskey Tax". Office of History, Art, & Archives. Washington, D.C.: United States House of Representatives. January 27, 1791.
• "The Whiskey Rebellion". MountVernon.org. Mount Vernon, Virginia: George Washington's Mount Vernon.

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