Fries' Rebellion
FRIES' REBELLION
FRIES' REBELLION (1799) was the armed resistance of certain farmers in Bucks and Northampton counties in Pennsylvania to a federal tax on land and houses. The insurgents, led by John Fries, a traveling venduecrier, or auctioneer, harrassed assessors and forced the release of men imprisoned in Bethlehem for similar resistance to the tax. Federal troops were sent, and the rebellion was
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put down. John Fries was captured, tried twice for treason, and, along with two other men, sentenced to be hanged. The date of the execution had been set when Fries obtained a pardon from President John Adams.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davis, William W. H. The Fries Rebellion, 1798–1799. 1899. Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1969.
H. H.Shenk/a. r.
See alsoInsurrections, Domestic ; Taxation .