The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 1, Issue 1, April 2015 | Page 27

However, leaders in the East believed the gathering was an insurrection, and in
October 1794, Washington ordered troops sent to the area.
Conclusion
The people of western Pennsylvania did not think troops would come, or if
they did, they could intimidate them the way they did the tax collectors and all
those that opposed them. For this reason, Generals Henry Lee and Hamilton met no
resistance when they arrived with their fourteen thousand troops. In the end, the
government required participants of the Whiskey Rebellion to sign an “Oath of
Submission to the Laws of the United States” if they wished amnesty for their part
in what transpired. 21 David Bradford and some of the other rebellion leaders fled to
Ohio. The troops arrested thirty-two men, and marched them to Philadelphia for
trial. The court only convicted two, John Mitchell, charged with mail robbery, and
Philip Wigle, a known participant of a Fayette County riot, because they viewed the
farmers as poor country bumpkins. George Washington eventually pardoned all of
the Whiskey Rebellion participants except David Bradford.
Feelings ran deep regarding the Whiskey Rebellion. Generations fought
over the truth of what happened and why. Brackenridge wrote about his activities
during the rebellion for the side of the people, and about Neville’s connection with
the side of the government. Neville’s grandson, Neville B. Craig, dismissed
Brackenridge’s story when he wrote his history of Pittsburgh. In response,
Brackenridge’s son wrote his own history to counter Craig’s version.
The Whiskey Rebellion was two forms of rebellion that the Federalists
would not tolerate. They considered meetings, such as the ones in Pittsburgh, as
extra legal, even though they were peaceful, and produced only resolutions and
written protests against the government. While the Federalists leaders overlooked
the community censure and rebuke of taxpayers and collectors, the violence to
people and property was too much to ignore. Hamilton wrote a narrative regarding
the government’s use of force, and stated that it was justified and moderated, and
that it helped to end the rebellion. His spin on the authority of the president to use
the military on internal issues helped establish the right to do so.
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