The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty

This is a little known event in American history that is covered very well here. The genius of Hamilton's financial polices can be seen in the necessity of the excise tax and the aversion of the American yeomen farmer is just as apparent. These frontier rebels believed they were carrying on the revolution by leading their army against George Washington. The prose is excellent and very clear throughout the whole book. You find yourself excited to know what happens next and the book weaves a compelling story about one of the first challenges to the newly established government. This book is a must read for those who really want to understand the early days of the United States.

When I was in school, the most I ever was taught about the Whiskey Rebellion was that it caused commotion in the West, and had to be put down by the Federal government. Of course, there was mention of the tax on distilled spirits, but really nothing more. This book has finally explained to me the complex bachground of the disagreement between Westerners and the Eastern men who ran the government. Neither Washington nor Hamilton comes out of this book in a particularly good light, but perhaps the author reads too much into their actions. It's good to know the other side of the story, from the "rebels", who did to the government what the men in that government did to England over the idea of an "unjust tax". Even though we all know how the story ends, it's quite an exciting ride, and well worth reading!

I am starting to lose patience with history writing that interprets historical events through the lens of the personal character of the key players involved. (Such history writing usually leaves me wondering how accurate the author's take on his/her subject's psyche is, or, whether things would have been different if the subject had had a good hair day or started off their day with a solid breakfast.) Hogeland's account of the Whiskey Rebellion seems to have struck a good balance between narratology (understanding characters' motives) and analysis of objective, provable facts (in this case economics and politics). Hogeland is a gifted writer. His description of whiskey making (pp. 64-66) is beautiful, almost poetic; his depictions of the frontier practice of tarring and feathering one's perceived enemies (pp. 20-23; 143-44) is chilling. His discussion of the economics of the early years of US nationhood is precise and convinciing without overwhelming the reader with theoretical concepts. In the end, Hogeland leaves the reader with a number of questions that continue to be relevant today: What rights should government have in controlling mob violence? free speech? How do national economic policies get shaped and implemented? What assurance do the poor have that government officials won't enact policies that benefit only themselves and their cronies? What moral standards should the military be held to and what are the ramifications when they fail to do so? How can individual rights be protected in the shadow of popular movements? What constitutes fair taxation? Clearly many Bill-of-Rights sorts of issues were being tested in this early conflict between one group of US citizens and their government. Hogeland does a good job of presenting this often-overlooked event in American history in a way that is both engaging and though-provoking. (The endnotes are also worth reading; they do a good job of identifying sources and making the author's case for his particular interpretations. Excellent bibliography.)

The Whiskey Rebellion, which came to a head in 1794 on the frontier of Western Pennsylvania, provides a great microcosm for viewing the early American republic. It encapsulates the stories of the nation's transformation into a centralized, commercial power, along with the expansion of the nation westward, which often presented challenges to that centralized power. It shows the demise of the radical populism of the Revolution and the rise of the conservative power of the creditor class. Alexander Hamilton, that machiavellian genius who was the architect of the emerging power of the commercial creditor class, plays a central role, as does George Washington, aging and nearly ready to exit the world stage. To understand the Whiskey Rebellion is to understand the formation and development of our early republic. William Hogeland's new book is a first rate popular history of the Whiskey Rebellion with a definite point of view. With great clarity, he carefully explains both the machinations of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, which created the conditions that sparked the rebellion, and the economic and cultural situation in Western Pennsylvania, where the effects of Hamilton's maneuvering to create a centralized commercial power were so devastating as to cause such a violent uprising. Step by step, he shows how the clash of the interests between classes and regions led to this most serious of popular rebellions against federal authority - how it happened, and how it was crushed. More impressive even than Mr. Hogeland's clear, explanatory prose is his ability to animate the actors in this drama. He brings to life the people who inhabit his history, an ability more often found in fiction than in historical writings. I came away from reading his book feeling not just that I had learned about Alexander Hamilton, but that I actually knew him. Hugh Henry Brackenridge, the eccentric Pittsburgh lawyer who was swept up in the action of the rebellion, springs off the page full of quirky, nervous energy, and resonates as an off-beat, enigmatic tragic hero rather than just another obscure name and historical footnote, which is how many histories have treated him. Hogeland enlivens all the players in his history in this way, and that is the quality which sets his book apart as unique and extrordinary. Read this book together with Thomas Slaughter's `Whiskey Rebellion: Frontier Epilogue to the American Revolution', and you should have everything you need to know about the Whiskey Rebellion short of doing a dissertation on it. If you are only going to read one book on the subject, Mr. Hogeland's is more accessible to the general reader and is livelier by far. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the career of Alexander Hamilton, the early republic, the early frontier, or the history of populist conflicts in America. Theo Logos