1 gen 1794 anni - 1794 - When farmers in western Pennsylvania protested an excise tax on whiskey by forming an army and refusing to play, Washington for the first time used the power of the federal government to enforce laws by force. He sent Alexander Hamilton at the head of an army to stop the revolt, and succeeded in his goal. The resolution to the whiskey rebellion showed that the United State government would not shy away from using exectuvie power as an enforcer of laws.