Hello and welcome to a history of the United States, episode 174, End of the Bottle. Last time out,

we watched the Whiskey Rebellion escalate as a force of 7,000 insurgents gathered to

march on Pittsburgh at the start of August 1794. With our historical perspective, we can tell that this was clearly the high point of the rebellion.

People were unhappy and frustrated, but were largely legalists and had no clear objectives.

So while the 7,000 gathered, they didn't actually accomplish anything

and just sort of dissolved. This was followed up two weeks later by the Assembly, where

the moderates held sway. However, from the perspective at the time, all the federal government

could see was the continued ratcheting up

of the situation, all with a backdrop of the war in Europe, the threat of the British and Spanish

along the frontier, and a concern over whether Kentucky would try and secede from the Union,

or attempts to invade New Orleans, in an effort to gain

navigation rights on the Mississippi. This led Washington to issue a proclamation, ordering the

insurgents to disperse, and calling out the militia. This would give the president three

weeks to find a peaceable solution, something which would

help secure the support of Pennsylvania governor, Thomas Mifflin. As an aside, while I've not

been able to find a direct source on this, it does appear that yes, Dunder Mifflin is named

after Thomas Mifflin.

If peace had not been achieved by September 1st, then Washington and Hamilton would turn to military options.

This is where we ended things last time out.

Washington sent a commission to Pennsylvania, made up of the Attorney General, William Bradford,

the Supreme Court Justice, Jasper Yeats, and Senator James O'Rott, with broad authority to end

the rebellion on August 7th. This, on the face of it, seems like quite the gesture,

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