In 1798 President John Adams and a Congress dominated by the Federalist Party passed the Direct Tax Act to support a military expansion triggered by the Quasi-War (1798-1800) with France. The German-American protest of the tax in eastern Pennsylvania has come to be known as Fries's Rebellion.

The so-called "rebellion" began in July 1798 in the Pennsylvania counties of Northhampton, Montgomery, Berks, and Bucks in the spirit of the American Revolution. German Americans, many of whom had fought in the Revolutionary War (1775-83), erected liberty poles, organized associations by which members proclaimed their opposition to the law, and intimidated tax assessors. Primarily small-property owners living all too close to the margin of poverty, the protestors believed the direct tax was an assault on their liberty and the first of several taxes aimed at driving them into a tenancy that would be equivalent to the near slavery they or their fathers and grandfathers had experienced in Germany. To the protesters, the direct tax was reminiscent of the Stamp Act (1765), which had begun the resistance movement (1764-75) that ultimately led to the Revolution. Aggravating the situation was the fact that many of the tax assessors were relatively affluent Quakers and Moravians who had been at best neutral pacifists during the Revolutionary War and were seen by the protestors as "Tories." Additionally, many southeastern Pennsylvanians believed it was no coincidence that the federal government had passed the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) to stifle political opposition.

Remarkably, the protest had few acts of collective violence, and when it was over, Democratic-Republican Party newspapers strove to minimize its seriousness by reporting that the entire rebellion had consisted of a few women dumping hot water on the heads of assessors as they measured homes and counted windows. There is no evidence to substantiate these reports, which have often been repeated. In any events, individuals and families did threaten assessors and seize their records, and these actions led to the federal district court ordering 23 men arrested and jailed in the Sun Tavern at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. On March 12, 1799, a Bucks county auctioneer and former militia captain named John Fries rode into Bethlehem with several hundred men and, without using any real violence, freed the prisoners. Since Fries led the rescue and was active in several protest meetings, the rebellion became associated with his name.

The federal government reacted quickly to the jailbreak. Amid the war fever of the winter of 1798-99, the Federalist Party viewed any protest as treasonous and French-inspired. President Adams gave the insurgents six days to stand down and sent troops into the region to restore order. But most of the protestors had gone home after the rescue. The military spent three weeks rounding up about 120 "rebels," capturing Fries after he sought to escape into a swamp. Many in the Federalist Party wanted to make an example of Fries and hoped to see him executed for treason. After one mistrial, the case came before Judge Samuel Chase. Fries's lawyers argued that while the actions committed by the defendant could be construed as sedition or riot, they were certainly not treason and worthy of the death penalty. Chase would have none of it and simply defined Fries's actions as treasonous, leaving the jury no choice but to convict. Recognizing that they could do no good, the lawyers dropped the case and let Fries defend himself with the idea that he would gain greater public sympathy and a chance for a reprieve on his own. Fries was found guilty and sentenced to hang. President Adams, who had followed the trials closely, became uneasy over the courts' decisions and therefore pardoned Fries and two others of treason, as well as several others of lesser crimes. Adams's action alienated many in the Federalist Party, contributing to his break with Alexander Hamilton and hurting him in the election of 1800.

Bibliography:

Paul Douglass Newman, Fries's Rebellion: The Enduring Struggle for the American Revolution (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004)

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