"Whereas combinations to defeat the execution of the laws laying duties upon spirits distilled within the United States... have from the time of the commencement of those laws existed in the four western counties of Pennsylvania... I... do hereby command all persons being insurgents... on or before the first day of September next, to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes." — President George Washington, Proclamation of August 7, 1794
Compared to the Confederation Congress's response to Shays's Rebellion (1786-87), the federal response shown here demonstrated:
- Acheck_circle
A new and operational federal capacity to call forth militia and enforce excise laws nationally
- B
A reduced reliance on state governments to suppress internal disturbances
- C
A shift from executive to congressional command of armed force
- D
An abandonment of the principle that excise taxes required state consent
Explanation
Where Confederation Congress had no troops or revenue to suppress Shays, Washington could call up roughly 13,000 federalized militia under the new Constitution and Militia Act — showcasing operational federal capacity. The other options invert or misstate the constitutional change.