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State of the Union Address
George Washington
November 19, 1794

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:

When we call to mind the gracious indulgence of Heaven by which the
American people became a nation; when we survey the general prosperity of
our country, and look forward to the riches, power, and happiness to which
it seems destined, with the deepest regret do I announce to you that during
your recess some of the citizens of the United States have been found
capable of insurrection. It is due, however, to the character of our
Government and to its stability, which can not be shaken by the enemies of
order, freely to unfold the course of this event.

During the session of the year 1790 it was expedient to exercise the
legislative power granted by the Constitution of the United States "to lay
and collect excises". In a majority of the States scarcely an objection was
heard to this mode of taxation. In some, indeed, alarms were at first
conceived, until they were banished by reason and patriotism. In the four
western counties of Pennsylvania a prejudice, fostered and imbittered by
the artifice of men who labored for an ascendency over the will of others
by the guidance of their passions, produced symptoms of riot and violence.

It is well known that Congress did not hesitate to examine the complaints
which were presented, and to relieve them as far as justice dictated or
general convenience would permit. But the impression which this moderation
made on the discontented did not correspond with what it deserved. The arts