To Execute The Laws Of The Union By Donna Neary

Donna Neary’s "To Execute the Laws of the Union" commemorates President George Washington’s 1794 mobilization of state militias to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion, a violent protest in western Pennsylvania against a federal excise tax on distilled spirits. When resistance grew and local officials were intimidated and attacked, Washington invoked the Militia Act to assemble nearly 13,000 troops from several states—the first significant test of federal authority under the new Constitution. By personally reviewing the assembled militia with allies like Alexander Hamilton, Washington demonstrated that the national government had both the will and the means to enforce its laws and maintain order, setting a lasting precedent for federal response to internal insurrection.