William Bonham’s Republic: Defining Politics in the Whiskey Rebellion

Abstract: The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 provided one of the first opportunities for early Americans to articulate and enact their ideas of legitimate political behavior in a republic. To some, like William Bonham, an active citizenry was essential in combatting tyrannical government—the American Revolution had proved as much. But to others, the advent of popular sovereignty rendered the old colonial methods of protest obsolete. In Northumberland, Pennsylvania, neighbors divided over the best ways to express their opposition to a hated tax now that they lived under a government comprised of their own elected representatives.