Many people believe that government gridlock and the fight over taxes is a new phenomenon, associated with the modern-day Tea Party movement and the dysfunction that (charitably) describes Washington, D.C., in recent years.
Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth. Indeed, much of the study of U.S. history is all about how poorly our national government functions, and fighting over taxes is about as American as apple pie.
In July 1794, our nation faced a tax rebellion of such proportions that many worried it had the potential to unravel the very fabric of our young experiment in democracy, almost before it really got started.
"The Whiskey Rebellion" began in earnest on July 16, 1794, when "a force of disaffected whiskey rebels attacked and destroyed the home of a tax inspector" in southwestern Pennsylvania, according to a PBS account. "The rebellion grew in numbers, if not in actions, and threatened to spread to other states."
In 1794, the resulting military conflict spread to Westminster, according to Nancy Warner, the author of "Carroll County Maryland, A History, 1837-1976."
"The 'Whiskey Boys' marched into Westminster with a liberty pole to protest" the passage of the "Whiskey Act," an early "sin" tax on alcohol passed by Congress in March 1791.
If you will recall, just two decades earlier, the American Revolution was in large part, fought over taxes — so the Whiskey Act was greeted with a bit of ire from those freedom fighters.
To make matters worse, whiskey stills on small farms represented an important source of revenue in the late 1700s.
Politically, it was especially unpopular on the western frontier — which in those days was just beyond the western Maryland and Pennsylvania border — because the revenue came specifically from a tax on an agrarian industry to help pay for the lifestyle of the eastern urban areas of the country.
The liberty pole incident in Westminster introduced Carroll County to a relatively new citizen at the time, Col. Joshua Gist, "a patriot of the Revolutionary War who came to Westminster from Baltimore after his marriage in 1772," according to Warner.
By 1791, he had established a large farm just south of Westminster on what we now know as Gist Road.
Local historian Jay Graybeal researched the liberty pole incident a number of years ago for the Historical Society of Carroll County, and noted: "Local residents became caught up in the fervor over the whiskey tax. Miss Mary B. Shellman described the event…
"A mob of men, known as the 'Whiskey Boys,' marched into Westminster, and set up what they called a 'Liberty Pole.' Becoming alarmed, and knowing the personal bravery of Col. [Joshua] Gist, who at that time commanded a company of militia, he was sent for, and responded immediately.
"Riding into town with a drawn sword in his hand, he ordered the pole to be cut down, and dismounting, he placed one foot upon it, and stood there until the pole was cut in pieces, the whiskey boys leaving quietly while it was being done."
Perhaps they retired to the "still" of the night.
When he is not researching how to make money off moonshine, Kevin Dayhoff may be reached at kevindayhoff@gmail.com.