2025-06-14
50 分钟Like so many fights, this one involved whiskey.
The federal government was deeply in debt from the costs of the Revolutionary War,
so Congress passed a tax upon spirits distilled within the United States.
The tax was to be paid in cash, something hard to come by in the outer reaches of the new country.
It was 1791.
Word took time to travel, and when farmers in western Pennsylvania did find out, they protested.
The Whiskey Rebellion grew violent.
Rebels burnt to the ground the home of the local tax collector.
It lasted until 1794,
when President George Washington raised a militia of some 12,000 men to put it down.
The threat was enough to end the uprising.
By the time the forces arrived, the rebellion was all but over.
It was the first time a president would raise a militia to put down a civil disturbance.
And it's one in a long history of presidents using federalised forces in the states,
whether the governor welcomes the help or not.
I'm John Priddow, and this is Checks and Balance from The Economist.
Each week, we take one big theme shaping American politics and explore it in depth.
This week, the protests in LA, the heavy federal response,
and what immigration means to the Trump administration.
The president has sent in the National Guard.