The population of western [[Dan's History Web/US 1/Notes to Fill/Pennsylvania]] in 1790 was about 75,000. Many farmers west of the [[Appalachian Mountains]] distilled their grain harvests into spirits rather than trying to haul them to coastal markets. The resulting whiskey might still need to be transported for sale, but it had a much higher value by volume so it was more profitable. Americans in the 1790s consumed nearly 6 gallons of alcohol annually per capita, nearly three times as much as today. In 1791 [[Gilded Age/Alexander Hamilton]] proposed a whiskey excise tax to help pay down the $54 million national debt. The law went into effect in March 1791 and in August about 7,000 people met near [[Fort Duquesne|Pittsburgh]] to protest the tax. In September a tax collector was tarred and feathered and men sent to investigate the incident were attacked. A second convention was held in [[Fort Duquesne|Pittsburgh]] to plan resistance the the tax, in the style of the [[Continental Congress]]. There was some talk of secession by the western counties from the United States and the [[Regulators]] tried to interest backcountry residents of [[Kentucky]] and [[North Carolina]] to join the cause. President [[George Washington]] was initially cautious, but in the end the federal government sent troops against the insurrection and Washington led 13,000 soldiers against western farmers. The rebels fled into the hills and no battle was fought. Twenty-four people were indicted for treason, but only ten were caught and two convicted and sentenced to be hanged. Washington pardoned them. The government actions met with public approval, especially in the east, but the tax remained difficult to enforce. It was repealed by the [[Reading Notes/Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]] administration in 1801.