Whiskey Rebellion Felt PennantIn early 1791, to help pay off the resulting national debt, Congress used it's new Constitutional authority to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises" and passed the first nationwide internal revenue tax an excise tax on distilled spirits. In 1794, the government and President Washington finally squelched the uprising over the tax. When it was over, the Whiskey Rebellion served as one of the first tests of the new Constitution and the