In July 1794, the U.S. government sends troops to western Pennsylvania to coerce farmers to pay taxes on the liquor they distill — the country's first domestic tax. Distillers on the frontier have resisted the tax for three years. They've tarred and feathered tax collectors, burned effigies, and raised liberty poles.

On this day, the first shots are fired and the first fatalities suffered. A rebel militia musters outside Pittsburgh, calling for independence and threatening to loot and burn wealthy homes.

President Washington calls for the rebels to disperse, riding at the head of 13,000 militiamen. But the rebellion collapses before the army arrives. There is no battle. Troops arrest about 150 men; two are convicted of treason. Washington pardons both.

The whiskey tax is repealed in 1802.