Tariff of 1791 explained

Shorttitle:	Tariff of 1791
Longtitle:	An Act repealing, after the last day of June next, the duties hereto-fore laid upon Distilled Spirits imported from abroad, and laying others in their stead; and also upon Spirits distilled within the United States, and for appropriating the same.
Nickname:	Excise Whiskey Tax of 1791
Enacted By:	1st
Effective Date:	March 3, 1791
Cite Statutes At Large:	, Chap. 15
Introducedin:	House
Passedbody1:	House
Passeddate1:	January 27, 1791
Passedvote1:	35-21
Passedbody2:	Senate
Passeddate2:	February 12, 1791
Passedvote2:	20-5
Passedbody3:	House
Passeddate3:	February 18, 1791
Passedvote3:	35-21
Passedbody4:	Senate
Passeddate4:	February 23, 1791
Passedvote4:	14-9
Signedpresident:	George Washington
Signeddate:	March 3, 1791

Tariff of 1791 or Excise Whiskey Tax of 1791 was a United States statute establishing a taxation policy to further reduce Colonial America public debt as assumed by the residuals of American Revolution. The Act of Congress imposed duties or tariffs on domestic and imported distilled spirits generating government revenue while fortifying the Federalist Era.

The H.R. 110 tariff legislation originated as a panacea for the Hamiltonian economic program. The Debt Assumption policy was introduced as a series of public credit and national debt reports authored by Alexander Hamilton from 1790 to 1795.^{[1] [2]}

Opposition of Federalist Economic Plan

Colonial America was observant of the militia insurrection in response to the progressive debt collection and tax rulings charged by the Federalist taxation plan.

Shays' Rebellion and Whiskey Rebellion were notable uprisings where American colonists, often referred as the anti-federalists, express their sentiments concerning the public debt reconciliation plan while the newly formed government fulfilled the demands of Funding Act of 1790 during the late 18th century.^[3] The colonial protests were necessitated by the enforcement of the Federalist taxation plan as submitted by Alexander Hamilton on January 14, 1790 better known as the First Report on the Public Credit.^{[4] [5] [6]}

See also

	France in the American Revolutionary War
	Grievances of the United States Declaration of Independence
	Loyalists fighting in the American Revolution
	No taxation without representation
	On American Taxation
	Spain and the American Revolutionary War
	Tariff in United States history
	Taxation in medieval England
	The Federalist Papers
	Wealth tax

Colonial and European Ambassadors, Diplomats, Financiers, Merchants, and Statesmen

	Gouverneur Morris
	Jacques Necker
	Joseph Nourse
	William Short
	Nicolaas van Staphorst
	Willem Willink

Associated Distilled Spirits Statutes

Chronology of 18th century colonial laws related to the duties or tariffs applied to domestic and imported distilled spirits.

Date of Enactment	Public Law No.	U.S. Statute	U.S. Statute Chapter	U.S. Presidential Administration
August 10, 1790			Chapter XXXIX	George Washington
May 8, 1792			Chapter XXXII	George Washington
June 5, 1794			Chapter XLIX	George Washington
June 7, 1794			Chapter LIII	George Washington
June 1, 1796			Chapter XLIX	George Washington
March 3, 1797			Chapter XI	George Washington
January 29, 1798			Chapter X	John Adams
April 7, 1798			Chapter XXV	John Adams

18th Century Documents Related to Colonial Debt

• Web site: French Loan Certificate . Franklin . Benjamin . September 16, 1779 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: French Loan Certificate . Franklin . Benjamin . February 29, 1780 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: Estimate on the National Debt . Washington . George . January 2, 1781 . George Washington Papers: Series 4, General Correspondence . Washington, D.C. . The Library of Congress.
• Web site: French Loan Certificate . Franklin . Benjamin . May 15, 1781 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: French Debt . Jefferson . Thomas . 1790 . Thomas Jefferson Papers: Series 1: General Correspondence . Washington, D.C. . The Library of Congress.
• Web site: Alexander Hamilton, March 11, 1792, Tariff, in Thomas Jefferson's Hand . Jefferson . Thomas . March 11, 1792 . Thomas Jefferson Papers: Series 1: General Correspondence . Washington, D.C. . The Library of Congress.

Correspondence of Alexander Hamilton & George Washington

• Web site: To Alexander Hamilton from George Washington, 29 July 1792 . New Regulation of Allowances . Hamilton . Alexander . July 29, 1792 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 1 September 1792 . Excise Law in Western Survey of District of Pennsylvania . Hamilton . Alexander . September 1, 1792 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: Enclosure Report on Obtaining New Foreign Loans, 15 June 1793 . Hamilton . Alexander . June 15, 1793 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 21 April 1794 . Amsterdam Commissioners Announcing the Undertaking of Loan . Hamilton . Alexander . April 21, 1794 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: From Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, 25 April 1794 . Holland Loan of 1794 . Hamilton . Alexander . April 25, 1794 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: From Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, 5 August 1794 . Disagreeable Crisis in Western Counties of Pennsylvania . Hamilton . Alexander . August 5, 1794 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: From Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, 2 September 1794 . A Spirit Hostile to Execution of the Laws . Hamilton . Alexander . September 2, 1794 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 20 January 1795 . Installment Payments of Foreign Debts . Hamilton . Alexander . January 20, 1795 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

Bibliography

• Book: The British Empire in America - Vol. I . Oldmixon . John . Moll . Herman . 1708 . Internet Archive . London, G.B. . John Nicholson and Benjamin Tooke . I . 1041654741.
• Book: Oldmixon, John . The British Empire in America - Vol. II . 1741 . Internet Archive . London, G.B. . J. Brotherton and J. Clarke . II . 65347255.
• Book: Fothergill, John . Considerations Relative to the North American Colonies . 1765 . Internet Archive . London, G.B. . Henry Kent . 83457228.
• Book: Jenyns, Soame . Objections to the Taxation of our American Colonies, by the Legislature of Great Britain, Briefly Consider'd . 1765 . Internet Archive . London, G.B. . J. Wilkie . 65351127.
• Book: Hopkins, Stephen . The Grievances of the American Colonies Candidly Examined . 1766 . Internet Archive . London, G.B. . J. Almon, Opposite Burlington House in Picadilly . 65350684.
• Web site: History of the Western Insurrection in Western Pennsylvania, 1794 . Brackenridge . Henry M. . 1859 . Internet Archive . Pittsburgh, Penn. . W.S. Haven . 1383306.
• Web site: The Dutch Republic and the American Revolution . Edler . Friedrich . 1911 . Internet Archive . Baltimore, MD . The Johns Hopkins Press . 186717786.
• Web site: France In The American Revolution . Perkins . James Breck . 1911 . Internet Archive . Boston, Mass. . Houghton Mifflin Company . 177577.
• Web site: The Whiskey Insurrection: A General View . Wiley . Richard T. . 1912 . Internet Archive . Elizabeth, Penn. . Herald Printing Co. . 9327050.
• Web site: America's Debt to France: The Most Unalterable Gratitude . Guthrie . William D. . 1916 . Internet Archive . New York . American Society for the Relief of French War Orphans . 6472958.
• Web site: I, Our Debt To France; II, What Lafayette Did For America . Penniman . James H. . 1921 . Internet Archive . Philadelphia, Penn. . Philadelphia . 5962930.
• Web site: Our Debt To France . Washington Lafayette Institution . 1926 . Internet Archive . New York City . The Washington Lafayette Institution . 1721177.
• Web site: The Federalist Era 1789-1801 . Miller . John C. . 1960 . Internet Archive . New York . Harper & Brothers . 425211.
• Book: [{{google books|IVASDAAAQBAJ|plainurl=y}} The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788-1800 ]. Elkins . Stanley M. . McKitrick . Eric . 1993 . Oxford University Press . New York . 978-0195093810 . 26720733 .
• Book: Beer, Samuel H. . [{{google books|LVPuAAAAMAAJ|plainurl=y}} To Make a Nation: The Rediscovery of American Federalism ]. 1993 . Belknap Press of Harvard University Press . Cambridge, Mass. . 978-0674893177 . 25631558 .

Historical Video Archives

• Web site: The Whiskey Rebellion . 1924 . Internet Archive . Pathe Exchange.
• Web site: George Washington and The Whiskey Rebellion: Testing the Constitution . 1974 . Internet Archive . Learning Corporation of America.

External links

• • • • Web site: The Whiskey Rebellion . Hoover . Michael . Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau ~ Public Information . U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• Web site: George Washington: Domestic Affairs . Knott . Stephen . Miller Center Office of Domestic Affairs . 4 October 2016 . Charlottesville, VA . University of Virginia.
• Web site: The Stylistic Artistry of the Declaration of Independence . Lucas . Stephen E. . America's Founding Documents . 4 November 2015 . Washington, D.C. . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• Web site: The Whiskey Rebellion . Scanlon . Donna . December 2009 . Business Reference Section . The Library of Congress.
• Web site: Temperance, Taxation, and Turmoil: Federal Regulation of Intoxicating Beverages 1789-1918 . Levinson . Joseph I. . April 2002 . Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) at Harvard Law School . Cambridge, Massachusetts . Harvard University.
• Web site: Our Whiskey Rebellion . Tillman . Benjamin R. . May 1, 1894 . Internet Archive . The North American Review.
• Web site: U.S. Debt and Foreign Loans, 1775–1795 . Office of the Historian . Washington, D.C. . United States Department of State.
• Web site: The 1791 Excise Whiskey Tax . January 27, 1791 . Office of History, Art, & Archives . Washington, D.C. . United States House of Representatives.
• Web site: The Whiskey Rebellion . MountVernon.org . Mount Vernon, Virginia . George Washington's Mount Vernon.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Assumption of the State Debts, 22 April 1790 . Madison . James . April 22, 1790 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
2. Web site: Memorandum on Assumption of State Debts . Jefferson . Thomas . 1790 . The Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress . Washington, D.C. . The Library of Congress.
3. Web site: Senate Committee Report for Funding National Debt . 1st U.S. Congress . July 12, 1790 . The Library of Congress.
4. Web site: Report Relative to a Provision for the Support of Public Credit . Hamilton . Alexander . January 9, 1790 . Alexander Hamilton Papers: Speeches and Writings File, 1778-1804 . Washington, D.C. . The Library of Congress.
5. Web site: Report Relative to a Provision for the Support of Public Credit with Enclosures, 9 January 1790 . Hamilton . Alexander . January 9, 1790 . Founders Online . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
6. Web site: First Report on the Further Provision Necessary for Establishing Public Credit"; Second Draft . Hamilton . Alexander . December 13, 1790 . Alexander Hamilton Papers: Speeches and Writings File, 1778-1804 . Washington, D.C. . The Library of Congress.