In the early frontier days of American history, moonshine wasn’t a hobby: it was a part-time job. Many farmers relied on moonshine manufacturing to survive bad years. Low-value corn crops could be turned into high-value whisky. Americans hated paying liquor taxes. They hated taxes so much that revenuers, the government agents who came to collect taxes, were often attacked, tarred, and feathered when they came to visit. The tension between the government and its citizens eventually boiled over into a conflict called the Whisky Rebellion, which began in 1791 during George Washington’s presidency (Schlimm 2018). Whiskey Rebellion was a violent resistance movement. To suppress the rebellion, George Washington led a coalition of 13,000 militia troops. During the Whiskey Rebellion, moonshiners were portrayed as heroes standing against an oppressive government. When George Washington developed the largest distillery of his time when he retired. He considered this as a way to pursue the most innovative and creative farming practices without any prior experience he quickly acquainted himself with the process. 

After the Civil War, that attitude shifted. Many now saw moonshiners as violent criminals. In 1920, moonshiners across the country rejoiced: Prohibition was passed across the nation. Legal alcohol was no longer available anywhere. Overnight, illegal liquor became one of the most profitable businesses in America. The good times couldn’t last forever for moonshiners. In 1933, Prohibition was repealed and the moonshine market dwindled to a shadow of its former self (Keller 1971).

Today, moonshine is viewed much differently than it was a few decades ago. Home distilling is still illegal in many places. However, there are now some distillery’s that are showing the public the history of moonshine and the distilling process in legal operations. If you are lucky enough to be sipping on moonshine you are experiencing American history.