How would the policies adopted in the 4 years of the first Washington Administration have affected you if you were in the following situation? The background here is in 1792, you are a farmer...
How would the policies adopted in the 4 years of the first Washington Administration have affected you if you were in the following situation?
The background here is in 1792, you are a farmer from the backcountry of Pennsylvania. You own a forty-arce farm which you and your five sons work at growing wheat and corn. The lady folk tend to the chickens, the dairy product churning, and the household chores. In national politics, President Washington is running for re-election, as are most of the "Federalists", the men who opted for the new Constitution to take the place of the Articles of Confederation.
1 Answer
pohnpei397 | College Teacher | (Level 3) Distinguished Educator
One issue for me would be that the government had imposed a tariff. I would feel that this tariff was helping rich manufacturers by protecting them from competition. At the same time, I would feel that it was hurting me by making the prices of manufactured goods go up.
But the biggest issue for me in this situation would be the fact that the new government was getting a good deal of its revenue from the excise taxes. These taxes, and particularly the whiskey tax) would bother me a great deal. There were no decent roads in these times and it would have been very difficult for me to get my grain to market as grain. It is much easier to distill it down to alcohol because alcohol sells for a lot more for each unit of weight. This means I could more easily move enough alcohol to help support my family.
I would have felt that the Federalists were creating policies that were meant to help the rich and which were hurting people like me.