Three of the most significant domestic challenges that the Federalists faced was

the land policy, which organized the sale of lands. Another domestic challenge that they

faced was the Alien and Sedition Acts, which regulated immigration and citizenship in

the United States. Last, but not least, The Whiskey Rebellion, in which the Federalists

dealt with rebellion of back country farmers.

The Whiskey Rebellion was caused by Hamilton’s tax on liquor that he levied in

1791. This tax made a lot of back country farmers really mad, and eventually caused them

to begin to resist, and eventually turned into a revolt. The full-blown rebellion started in

1794. The farmers became so infuriated by the tax that they began to terrorize revenuers

and taxpayers. In response to this Washington issued a proclamation that called out the

militia men to handle the situation. They received no response from the farmers, so on

September 24, they issued the proclamation for the suppression of the rebellion. General

Henry Lee and his army marched out to the back country. As soon as they began to put

heat on the rebellors the band vaporized. The army arrested and imprisoned twenty men.

This event gained strength and reputation for the government. However, the people

sympathetic to the frontiersmen soon became Republicans.

The Federalists issued the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798. These acts consisted

of four separate acts that mainly reflected hostility towards foreigners, mainly the French

and Irish who were Republicans. These four acts were: The Naturalization Act, The

Alien Act, the Alien Enemy Act, and the Sedition Act. The Naturalization Act increased

the time that an immigrant had to be a resident from five years to fourteen years, in order

to become a citizen.