The Whiskey Rebellion by William
Hodgeland, 2006, Excerpts
The officers formed the Society of the Cincinnati, a
hereditary organization with a chapter in each state. Every officer of the
Continental Army was a member, and each officer’s eldest male descendant, in
every future generation, would be a member too. The society unified the families
of those who would become the country’s most influential men, creating a
hereditary interstate lobby with roots in fear of coup. The society’s president
was General Washington.
The Anti-Federalists by Jackson
Main, 1961, Edited Excerpts
Veteran army officers formed the Society of Cincinnati, a
hereditary, secret organization. The Cincinnati was widely suspected of a
design to create permanent nobility and exert political influence. Men of
property drew together, and many who had once doubted the value of a strong
government, now hailed the prospect, and applauded the Society of Cincinnati
which might help to obtain it.
Antifederalists feared the army’s political power and
opposed military pensions or any other measure, which would differentiate the
army from the general body of the population and contribute to the formation of
a military caste. Antifederalists were later to accuse the Society of
deliberately fomenting Shay’s
Rebellion as part of a deep plot to overturn the government. The officers were
accused of attempting to profit at the expense of the people, who had
contributed as much as they had to the war and were suffering equally from the
depression.
Cincinnati
Medal
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