The law wasn't about prohibition of alcohol. The new government needed money to repay a rather large war debt to France. The folks in Pittsburgh, the western frontier at the time, rebelled violently, attacking the tax collecters. There was a similar rebellion in Massachussetts, (Sheas Rebellion) but it was pretty much violence free, although federal militia were sent.
I guess you could call it our first "Sin Tax".
Dave
__________________
"When the lie is so big and the fog so thick, the Republican trick can play out again....."-------Frank Zappa
|