58 a short history of the united states
In his second report on the public credit on December 13 , 1790 ,
Hamilton had recommended passage of an excise tax on distilled li-
quor to ease the burden created by the assumption of state debts. It
was enacted on March 3 , 1791. There were thousands of stills around
the country and farmers, especially those in western Pennsylvania,
regularly shipped their surplus grain to eastern markets in the liquid