Check out Mount Vernon’s free online resources about the Whiskey Rebellion and Washington’s Pennsylvania Presidency. For a full bibliography of the episode, including primary sources and scholarship, check out our Episode 4 show notes.
Media and Interactives
BeWashington
Step inside Washington’s boots in this first-person interactive leadership experience. Come face to face with a leadership challenge that George Washington also confronted during the Whiskey Rebellion. Listen to advice from his most trusted sources and make your decision.
Whiskey Rebellion Timeline
An interactive timeline of events leading up to the Whiskey Rebellion.
The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington
Read about the Whiskey Rebellion from the Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington.
Lesson Plans
BeWashington: Genet Affair Lesson Plan
Students will analyze advice given to President George Washington during the Genet Affair crisis in 1794 through the use of primary and secondary sources.
BeWashington: Whiskey Rebellion Lesson Plan
Students will analyze advice given to President George Washington during the Whiskey Rebellion crisis in 1794 through the use of primary and secondary sources.
Primary Sources
Residence Act of 1790
This Act officially moved the capital from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. The move was not set to go into affect until ten years after the Act was passed; Philadelphia would stay the capital of the United States until 1800, when the capital would transfer to Washington, D.C. The Act was the result of a compromise between Hamilton, Madison, and Jefferson, and later sparked inspiration for the song, "The Room Where it Happens" in the musical Hamilton.
Proclamation of September 25, 1794
This proclamation was given on September 25, 1794, during the height of the Whiskey Rebellion. The Whiskey Rebellion was located in western Pennsylvania and primarily consisted of poor farmers who believed the 1791 excise, or "whiskey" tax was unfair. The rebellion dispersed shortly after this proclamation, when Washington led the militia to Pennsylvania.
