The Whiskey Rebellion broke out in Western Pennsylvania among farmers opposed to a federal excise tax on liquor passed in 1791. On August 7 President Washington issued a proclamation ordering the insurgents to go home and calling out a militia force of several thousand from four states. He issued another proclamation on September 24 and ordered the militia to suppress the uprising. For a time Washington led this force in person. By mid-November the trouble was ovedr. Two men were convicted of treason but Washington pardoned them.