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Hamilton unwelcome in city in 1794

6 min read
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No excise tax chair at David Bradford House

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Courtesy of Clay Kilgore

David Bradford House on South Main Street, Washington.

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Entryway to Bradford House where Alexander Hamilton would have stood

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Portrait of Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton comes to Washington!

Before you go running to the box office to order tickets, let me be clear – I do not mean “Hamilton,” the musical.

I am talking about the man himself, Alexander Hamilton. If you are still interested, I am afraid I once again must disappoint you, because you’re about 223 years too late. Hamilton came to Washington in 1794. But when he, accompanied by Gen. Henry Lee, journeyed to the area at the head of a 13,000-man federal militia in the fall of that year, he most certainly did not receive the fanfare the musical would have.

To understand the ire farmers on the frontier had for Alexander Hamilton in 1794, we’ll have to first discuss the events of 1791. After the Revolutionary War, the federal government was burdened with a debt of more than $75 million that was growing each year. Hamilton, as secretary of the Treasury, needed to devise a plan to pay the annual government expenses of $3 million, in addition to the interest on foreign and domestic debt. As early as 1790, Hamilton proposed a bill that would place a tariff on imported goods such as tea, coffee, wine and distilled spirits. This bill also placed a tax on domestically produced distilled spirits.

Although Congress initially dismissed the idea of taxing domestic spirits, Hamilton knew his plan had the potential to collect as much as $800,000, and he continued to lobby for an internal tax. By early 1791, Congress was convinced, and with a vote of 35 for and 21 against, the excise tax was adopted. When it went into effect in March 1791, this tax, the first nationwide internal revenue tax, sparked immediate protest from the western counties of Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas. In those areas, farmers used their surplus grain to distill whiskey for consumption and to barter for goods. The farmers saw this as a tax on their main crop, which they felt was a complete injustice.

Although there was protest in most of the western counties of Virginia and the Carolinas, it was Western Pennsylvania that became the hotbed of rebellion. Farmers along the frontier, led by men like John Holcroft, James McFarland and David Bradford, committed violent acts against tax collectors and government agents. Tax collectors faced the danger of tar and feathering, the burning of their property and threats against their families. In many cases, these threats became realities – tax collector Robert Johnson was tarred and feathered in 1791, and Benjamin Wells’ home, the Fayette County excise office, was burned in summer 1794. On July 17, 1794, a group of about 300 farmers attacked and burned the home of Gen. John Neville, the regional inspector of the excise tax.

From the moment the protests began, Hamilton viewed the farmers in the frontier counties as traitors. Congress had the authority to “lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.” To him, Congress acted within its right, as laid out in the Constitution. He believed it was the duty of every citizen to comply with the laws established by the federal government. Hamilton had urged President George Washington to use military force to put an end to the protests and uprisings in western Pennsylvania, but Washington was reluctant to do so, as he did not want the citizens of this new country to fear their leaders. But after the burning of Neville House, the farmers were declared to be in open rebellion, and Washington decided force would be needed to suppress the insurrectionists.

Rather than dispatch the National Army, which was occupied fighting Native Americans in the Ohio Territory, it was decided to form the Federal Militia. This force would consist of militias from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Washington, the commander-in-chief of armed forces, took command of the militia himself. Totaling nearly 13,000 men, this would be the largest army Washington ever commanded. Hamilton requested to be allowed to join the militia at Washington’s side. He felt it would be good for the western farmers to see the architect of the tax was willing to put himself in harm’s way to enforce it. He thought the citizens would respect his willingness to fight to protect the laws of this nation.

The Federal Militia began its westward march in September 1794 with Washington in command, Gen. Henry Lee, Second in command, and Hamilton, in full uniform, accompanying them. By the time they had reached Bedford, it became clear there would be little resistance to the militia in the west. The farmers were exactly that – farmers. They were not trained soldiers and were not ready to die for the issue. The leaders and ardent supporters of the rebellion saw their support start to fade the closer this overwhelming force came to western Pennsylvania. Seeing no reason for himself to continue west, Washington turned command of the militia over to Lee Oct. 19, while they were still in Bedford. Their orders were to put down any resistance that might remain, restore order to the western counties and gather up the leaders of the insurrection to be put on trial.

After crossing over the mountains, the militia camped at the home of federal government supporter, Judge John Lobinger, in Laurelville, Westmoreland County. From there, the militia was split, and a contingent of soldiers, under the command of Lee and Hamilton, marched toward the city of Washington. When the citizens of Washington saw Hamilton ride into town in full uniform at the head of the Federal Militia, they did not give him the respect he anticipated, but rather viewed him as the “tyrant treasurer” coming to take their money and arrest their friends. Hamilton was there to apprehend the “treasonist” leader of the rebellion, David Bradford. Lee and Hamilton rode to Bradford’s home on South Main Street.

When they arrived, they dismounted, walked to the front door and demanded entry and the surrender of Bradford. They were obliged on the first count, but found Bradford had already left and was on his way west. Upon realizing they would not be able to take Bradford into custody, Lee ordered his men to make camp on the grounds of Washington Academy, now Washington & Jefferson College. They used the camp as a base to round up other participants of the rebellion.

Hamilton spent but a little over a week in little Washington. He was not met with fanfare – in fact it was quite the opposite. He did not gain the respect in the west, or in the east for that matter, he had hoped for. Rather, he was hated in the west and criticized by the press in the east. But in the end, he did accomplish his goal of suppressing the rebellion and upholding the laws of the federal government.

As he said in a letter to Washington dated Nov. 11, 1794, “…it is long since I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value.”

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