To pay for a military build-up in anticipation of war with France in 1799, the U.S. government imposes its first national property tax. In Pennsylvania, a property owner is to be taxed a value based by proxy on the number and size of windows on any given structure. Window-counting tax assessors become a common sight and target of aggravated Pennsylvanians. On this day, an organized group of armed tax resisters, many wearing their Continental Army uniforms and marching to drum and fife, apprehends and intimidates every tax collector they can find, growing into a statewide movement. By year’s end federal troops are suppressing the rebellion and arresting its leaders. Some are sentenced to death under the Alien and Sedition Acts, but all are granted pardons by President Adams.