These resolutions concluded with a recommendation of county meetings, of county committees of correspondence, and of a convention when it might be judged expedient, to deliberate on the proper steps for the attainment and security of their just rights.
No doubt the leaders in these movements felt indignant because an expedition, which had been prepared in the West for an invasion of Louisiana under the auspices of Genet, had been frustrated by the vigilance of the president, who, when informed of the fact, had ordered General Wayne, then in the Ohio country, to establish a military post at an eligible place on the Ohio river, to stop any armed men who should be going down that stream. This interference with what they had been taught to believe were their inalienable rights was considered a very great grievance.
In a private letter, on the tenth of August, Washington referred to these movements in Kentucky, and said, after expressing a conviction that there “must exist a predisposition among them to be dissatisfied:” “The protection they receive, and the unwearied endeavors of the general government to accomplish, by repeated and ardent remonstrances, what they seem to have most at heart—namely, the navigation of the Mississippi—obtain no credit with them, or, what is full as likely, may be concealed from them, or misrepresented by those societies, which, under specious colorings, are spreading far and wide, either from real ignorance of the measures pursued by the government, or from a wish to bring it, as much as they are able, into discredit; for what purposes, every man is left to his own conjectures.”
Washington continued: “That similar attempts to give discontent to the public mind have been practised with too much success in some of the western counties in this state [Pennsylvania], you are, I am certain, not to learn. Actual rebellion against the laws of the United States exists at this moment, notwithstanding every lenient measure, which could comport with the duties of the public officers, has been exercised to reconcile them to the collection of taxes upon spirituous liquors and stills. What may be the consequence of such violent and outrageous proceedings is painful in a high degree, even in contemplation. But, if the laws are to be so trampled upon with impunity, and a minority, a small one too, is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put, at one stroke, to republican government; and nothing but anarchy and confusion are to be expected hereafter. Some other man or society may dislike another law, and oppose it with equal propriety, until all laws are prostrate, and every one—the strongest, I presume—will carve for himself.”
Washington alluded to the rebellious movement in western Pennsylvania, at that time, known in history as “The Whiskey Insurrection.”
FOOTNOTES:
[64] The following are the names of the officers appointed by Washington: John Barry, Samuel Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Richard Dale, Thomas Truxton, James Sever, commanders; Joshua Humphreys, George Cleghorn, Forman Cheeseman, John Morgan, David Stodder, James Hackett, naval constructors; Isaac Coxe, Henry Jackson, John Blagge, W. Pennock, Jeremiah Yellott, Jacob Sheafe, navy agents.
[65] A striking caricature appeared a little earlier than this, entitled The Contrast. It was in the form of two medallions, one called English liberty, and the other French liberty. On the former is seen Britannia, holding the pileus and cap of liberty in one hand with Magna Charta, and in the other the scales of justice. At her feet stoops a lion; and on the placid sea, in the distance, is a British merchant-vessel under full sail. Under the medallion are the words, “Religion, Morality, Loyalty, Obedience to the Laws, Independence, Personal Security, Justice, Inheritance, Protection, Property, Industry, National Prosperity, Happiness.” On the latter medallion is a fury, in the form of a woman; her hair formed of serpents; flames issuing from her cestus of snakes; in one hand a bloody sword, in the other a trident—the head of a man, streaming with blood upon one prong, and a human heart upon each of the others; while under her feet is a prostrate, naked, headless man. In the distance is seen a street lamp, with a man hanging by the neck from its supporting bracket. Under this medallion are the words, “Atheism, Perjury, Rebellion, Treason, Anarchy, Murder, Equality, Madness, Cruelty, Injustice, Treachery, Ingratitude, Idleness, Famine, National and Private Ruin, Misery.” Below all is the significant question, “Which is best?”