Washington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, Maryland

Washington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, Maryland

Frederick Kemmelmeyer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On October 16, 1794, President George Washington called on the militia at Fort Cumberland, Maryland, to suppress a rebellion in western Pennsylvania. The conflict was precipitated by the 1792 excise laws regarding the sale of distilled spirits. The Scotch-Irish immigrants who made their living from the sale and barter of whiskey deemed the laws discriminatory, and their protests turned into full-scale riots. Upon Washington’s arrival to review his troops, the resistance vanished. The episode went down in history as one of the crucial early tests of centralized government and as a reminder of Washington’s power.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Washington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, MarylandWashington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, MarylandWashington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, MarylandWashington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, MarylandWashington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, Maryland

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.