How George Washington crushed early insurrections by anti-tax, self-styled "patriots"

While George Washington was not personally involved in the put-down of Shays' Rebellion in 1787, he stood with the majority of the other Founding Fathers in his assessment that this insurrection demonstrated the need for a stronger federal government - which very soon came about in the U.S. Constitution of 1787, putting an end to the short-lived Articles of Confederation.

The irony is apparently lost on those MAGA insurrectionists who gleefully call for a "Civil War," while in their next breath praising the very Constitution that was written to combat exactly their brand of armed disloyalty.

Washington, of course, then became the very first U.S. President elected under our Constitution, which still remains in effect today as the world's oldest.

Then we see George Washington's handprints directly on the federal response to the Whiskey Rebellion - literally riding into battle against these rural rebels as the nation's Commander-in-Chief. The Whiskey Rebellion arose out of similar anti-tax, anti-federal-authority grievances that motivated Shays' Rebellion and that continue to motivate MAGA "patriots" today.

Bottom-line: MAGA isn't descended from the U.S. Constitutional tradition of Washington & Co. It's descended from the counter-traditions of "states' rights" and "sovereign citizenship" that manifested in these two early rebellions, as well as in the far bloodier Civil War.

they fly the traitor confed flag for a reason.

This rebellion is what Jefferson was talking about when he wrote about refreshing the tree of liberty with blood.

In order for the new government to survive, they'd have to put down rebellions and that meant people dying- soldiers and traitors alike.

Sometimes the Tree of Liberty must be replenished with Tang.