The
solution was to place a federal tax on liquors and
spirits. The
American people, had just fought a war to get out from under oppressive British
taxes (among other things), were not happy. So they decided to just keep on making
their own whisky, ignoring the federal tax.
For
early moonshiners, making and selling alcohol wasn't a hobby or a way to make
extra cash, it was how they survived. Farmers could survive a bad year by
turning their corn into profitable whisky, and the extra income made a harsh
frontier existence almost bearable. Paying the tax meant they wouldn't be able
to feed their families. Federal agents (called "Revenuers") were attacked when they came around to
collect the tax, and several were tarred and feathered.
All
this resentment finally exploded in 1794, when hundreds
angry citizens took over the city Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. President George Washington
called for a gathering of militiamen under federal authority. Thirteen thousand
troops dispersed the mob and captured its leaders. This Whisky Rebellion was the first major test of federal
authority for the young government.
Despite
the failure of the rebellion, moonshining continued throughout the United
States, especially in Kentucky, Virginia, the Carolinas and other southern
states. Taxes on alcohol didn't go away, so moonshiners always had incentive to
avoid the law. Gun fights between moonshiners and revenuers became the stuff of
legend.
These
battles continue in the 1860s as the
government tried to collect on the excise tax to fund the Civil War. Moonshiners and Ku Klux Klansmen joined
forces, and many battles were fought. The tactics of the moonshiners grew more
desperate and brutal, intimidating locals who might give away the locations of
stills and attacking IRS officials and their families. The tide of public
sentiment began to turn against the moonshiners. The temperance movement, which sought to ban alcohol,
gathered steam as the United States headed into the 20th century.
In
the early 1900s, states began passing laws that banned alcohol sales and consumption.
In 1920, nationwide Prohibition went into effect. It was the greatest thing
the moonshiners could have asked for.
Suddenly,
there was no legal alcohol available.
The demand for moonshine shot up like a rocket. Moonshiners couldn't keep up
with the demand, which led to cheaper; sugar based moonshine, as well as
watered down moonshine. The distillers would do anything to increase their
profit. Organized crime blossomed as speakeasies opened in every city these secret saloons had
hidden doors, passwords and escape routes in case the "Feds" ever
showed up to conduct a raid.
When
Prohibition was repealed in 1933,
the market for moonshine grew thin. Although moonshine still was a problem for
federal authorities into the 1960s and '70s, today, few illegal alcohol cases
are heard in the courts. Large commercial distilleries can buy raw materials on
such a large scale that, even with the taxes they must pay, their products
aren't too much more expensive than moonshine. Some counties in the south and Midwest
United States remained "dry" (alcohol-free) for decades after the end
of national Prohibition, even those localized liquor bans have, for the most
part, faded away. That leaves consumers of alcohol little reason to seek out
moonshine other than the temptation of buying and drinking something that's
"forbidden" and the flouting of government authority. The desire to
flout government authority is one of the reasons moonshining exists in the
first place.
Research Source: Science How Stuffs Works
Try
this marinade; your meat will be moist, tender and flavorful.
Beer
Marinade
Copyrighted
2013, Christine’s Pantry. All rights reserved.
Ingredients:
salt
and pepper, to taste
1/2
teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2
teaspoon oregano
1
(12 oz.) bottle beer (I used cerveza)
2
bay leaves
Directions:
Whisk
the first 4 ingredients in a bowl, and then add bay leaves. Pour marinade into
a large resealable plastic bag. Add meat, seal the bag. Refrigerate for 4 hours
up to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally. Enjoy!
Note:
You can use your favorite beer.
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