The end of the American Revolution was not the end of political unrest in the United States. In the years following the Revolution, political parties formed and dissolved, rebellions broke out, and even celebrations became increasingly political. Each political faction had a different idea of ​​what the Revolution meant and what the country's future looked like. Conflicting views on American politics began to manifest themselves in holiday celebrations, government affairs, and even rebellions. The Whiskey Rebellion was created out of many issues, not just the whiskey excise tax. Farmers in western Pennsylvania blocked roads to prevent tax collectors from reaching them and to show their contempt for taxes imposed on farmers that they could not pay. Western Pennsylvanians felt that democracy was being undermined by state and national governments. They also believed that the government favored the rich. Revolutionary veterans were angry over the payment of the IOUS war debt. Most IOUs had been purchased by the upper class, who had to demand that they be paid in full, despite having paid the original owners of the IOUs a fraction of their value. The government obliged them by creating the Finance Act of 1790 to raise money to pay war IOUs. To protest the government's injustice, a militia of approximately 9,000 soldiers gathered and began a peaceful march toward Pittsburgh. Federalists feared that what had happened to France (revolution and execution of their king) would happen to the United States if protests against the Funding Act and the whiskey tax were not suppressed. The demonstrators did not consider themselves insurrectionists as the Federalists did. They saw themselves as defenders of freedom. The government, however, did not need any force. O...... middle of paper ......Carolina Press, 1997), 129; Course notes, November 17, 2011; Waldstreicher, Perpetual Festivals, 129; Eric Nellis, The Long Road to Change: The American Revolution, 1750-1820 (Ontario: Broadview Press, 2007), 221; Lance Banning, Liberty and Order: The First American Party Struggle, (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2004), 225. Waldstreicher, Perpetual Fetes, 144-147; Bouton, Taming Democracy, 246; Waldstreicher, Perpetual Festivals, 113; Button, Taming Democracy, 244-52. Waldstreicher, Perpetual Festivals, 38; Waldstreicher, Perpetual Festivals, 71; Waldstreicher, Perpetual Festivals, 118-23; Course notes, November 29, 2011; Waldstreicher, Perpetual Festivals, 92-93; Waldstreicher, Perpetual Feasts, 205. Waldstreicher, Perpetual Feasts, 297. Waldstreicher, Perpetual Feasts, 83-84; Waldstreicher, Perpetual Festivals, 166-68; Waldstreicher, Perpetual Festivals, 232-34; Button, Taming Democracy, 250.