first instance of the federal government asserting its authority over popular resistance.

And right from the start! My understanding has been that the States are nations, and the federal government was established for only two purposes: military might against enemies on behalf of all states, which makes some sense of the imposition of the tax. The states paid to defend the federation of states known as the united States. That federation suggest paying the States back, and taxes the citizens to do it!!!

Hello! I mean honestly this whole taxing thing has gotten grossly out of hand if you ask me. One of my daughters asked me why things had gotten so much more expensive to build of late (she's a carpenter) and I said "because every single little piece of that building is now taxed, every step along the way, and we the customers pay that price." Plus sales tax.

The US government is a rogue government, and has been for a very long time. The Whiskey rebellion shows the struggle right from the beginning. It's not Trump. He's a patsy, willing to go down in history as another Hitler, for his 15 minutes on the throne. We usher this crisis along by believing it is all his doing, but it is not. He's a tool, nothing more.

If it had not held--if the country had fragmented into separate, individual factions, then foreign powers that were eager to take over would have come in.

and

We would not have been a country.

I beg to differ. Again, my understanding is that the States were (still are actually) sovereign nations united by a central government that was supposed to have very limited power over the States, each state one nation under God all on its own. These states, that early in the game and having just won a war of independence without the help of central government, could have simply disbanded the still very young government and carried on pretty much as they had been not long before.

The united States is not a country. It's a federation of 50 smaller States, each one of those a nation of its own.
The United States, as I understand it, is comprised of DC, PR, Samoa, Guam etc.

OK that's it I have a long drive ahead of me, just me and my dog and all the stuff I take with me everywhere I do (this is some sort of sickness). Let me say that I know almost nothing about history, I appreciate hearing what you have to say about this.