THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

The French Revolution broke out as George Washington was taking over as president in 1789. By 1793 a continent-wide war pitted revolutionary France against most of Europe. Within months Washington issued a Declaration of Neutrality, which allowed American merchants to prosper by trading with both sides. Many Americans sided with the democratic principles that the Revolution appeared to be based on; Democratic- Republican clubs in many cities carefully followed events in France. Many of the people supporting the Revolution also supported Jefferson and his republican ideals in America, The entire Revolution and especially the Terror appalled other Americans; many of these men supported federalism in the United States.

Pennsylvania farmers who supported the Whiskey Rebellion of 1796 were inspired by the French Revolution (they actually carried signs proclaiming “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity”). They opposed a tax Alexander Hamilton had placed on distilled alcohol, which reduced the profits on the whiskey that they produced and sold. The tax was necessary because the federal government needed more money; Hamilton’s plan of having the federal government assume certain debts of state governments had recently been instituted. Hamilton demonstrated his political skill by taxing whiskey; the grain from which it was made came from Western farmers, most of whom supported Jefferson. Washington raised an army and put the whiskey revolt down; by the time the army was ready to fight, the rebellion had largely ended.