How would YOU have reacted to Whiskey Rebellion? Was the government justified in handling the rebels?

Question

If you were president during the 1790s, how would you have reacted to the Whiskey Rebellion? Was the US government justified in handling the rebels? What alternative forms of revenue would you suggest that would've avoided the conflict to begin with?

Answer 1

If Washington hadn't done what he did, NO ONE would ever pay taxes.

Answer 2

Washington believed that a firm hand was required to serve as an example. While other types of revenue could have been advanced, there were drawbacks to them (higher tariffs meant less trade, sales-type taxes=hard to collect, much paperwork, income tax=not that many people had "income")