Hello and welcome to a history of the United States.

Episode 173, The March on Pittsburgh.

Last time out, we looked at the outbreak of the Whiskey Rebellion in the summer of 1794.

With the Battle of Bower Hill, the two movements that had been brewing along the frontier,

that of local elite elite rising petitions,

and a more violent general population, finally merged. And they were left asking themselves

where they should go from here. They decided to hold an assembly at Mingo Creek on July 23rd, and this blending of class participation was obvious.

An observer at the time wrote,

The people engaged in the present opposition to government must not be considered as an inconsiderable mob.

They are a respectable and powerful culmination. Although it's not obvious how you noted this effort was. Some of the leadership of the rebellion would later say they were only acting in the way they did under threat from the crowd,

which is a pretty convenient excuse if you no longer wish to be associated with what would happen.

There were two main suggestions for what to do next.

Hugh Henry Breckenridge proposed a mass application for amnesty, as while the action at Bower Hill was morally right,

legally they had been in the wrong, and it was within Washington's authority to call the militia on them.

Then, on the other end of the scale, was David Bradford, who spoke more violently and had the crowd's favour. He didn't really

have any concrete plans other than dissuading the crowd from marching on Pittsburgh.

The meeting broke up with a decision that they would meet again on August 14th, which

pleased the moderates, but not the radicals.

Soule tried recruiting Virginians to the cause, while anonymous threats were sent to

waiverers in the community, and stills were destroyed. A group with Bradford then set

about intercepting post, and on July 26th they captured letters

going from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, including letters from local townspeople condemning

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