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Shays Rebellion In The Post-Revolutionary United States

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Farmers living in newly settled areas in central and Western Massachusetts struggled with high debt and heavy taxation as they were trying to start farms in the 1780s. Other state legislatures during this time responded to similar economic crisis by passing pro-debtor laws. These were laws that forgave debt and printed more paper money (Shays' Rebellion). However, in Massachusetts, this was not the case. Instead, the government seized the farms, and some farmers who couldn’t pay their debt were thrown into prison. The settlers were shocked at how the government was handling this situation, and decided to take that matter into their own hands. Shays’ Rebellion was the first armed rebellion in the post-Revolutionary United States, where settlers called for special meetings where they agreed on coordinated protests. …show more content…

When Daniel Shays took leadership of the rebellion, the events soon “flared into a full-scale revolt.” The members of the rebellion were soon named Shaysites, after Daniel Shays. Many saw them as heroes who stood up against the government for what they thought was right. But, many saw them as “dangerous rebels whose actions might topple the young experiment in republican government” (Shays' Rebellion). James Bowdoin, who was currently the governor of Massachusetts, decided to organize a military force that crushed the movement. The Shaysites quickly fell apart, but the social reasons on why this rebellion happened still remained. This made people realize that they needed to develop a stronger constitution. The Articles of Confederation was unable to keep this uprising from happening, which turned out to be a clear problem. This rebellion proved that the United States needed a strong central government that was able to handle uprisings before they got too out of

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