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A revolt against the execution of a Federal excise law, which came to a head in western Pennsylvania in August, 1794, and was suppressed the same year. Scarcity of cash in the wild districts of North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania, had made distillation the chief means of support among the mountaineers, whisky being used as a medium of exchange. The excise law was passed March 3, 1791. During the next three years there were constant protests and insurrectionary mass meetings headed by one Bradford. William Findley, John Smilie and Albert Gallatin were the quieter leaders. Revenue officers were tarred and feathered by Bradford and his followers, and there was a general state of lawless opposition despite the efforts of Findley and Gallatin. In October, 1794, 15,000 militia were ordered out by President Washington, and under General Henry Lee marched into western Pennsylvania, and the revolt was promptly suppressed. Bradford fled the country, but a number of the ringleaders were arrested and imprisoned. The affair was important as exhibiting the power of the new Federal Government.