In 1798, President John Adams signed a bill to levy the first direct federal tax on private property. John Fries of Pennsylvania used the popular discontent over the tax to encourage armed resistance to federal tax assessors and collectors. When government officers came to measure houses to calculate the “window tax,” armed companies of citizens imprisoned them. General William McPherson was put in command of federal troops to enforce the revenue laws, and Fries was arrested and charged with high treason. On May 21, 1800, Adams pardoned...