Articles Of Confederation Vs Shay's Rebellion

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Two different views, two different types of people, but both share the same purpose to help the country. The American revolution was successfully won, but the struggle to on how to govern this newborn country was up for debate. The Articles of Confederation were instituted, but soon they proved to be inadequate to govern the United States after the incident with Shay’s rebellion. Shay’s Rebellion was a group composed of farmers and veterans who were overtaxed and the government had not compensated their efforts in the American Revolution. This group planned to overthrow the government by raiding an arsenal, but the state militia from Massachusetts was able to help. The problem here was that the government had no standing army and depended on the states to provide protection, and the government was too weak to force the states for help. The Constitution was drafted and the Federalists wanted it to be ratified, but the Anti-Federalists were …show more content…

Having a weak government was unacceptable for the Federalists, so they pushed for a strong central government. Popular figures who supported this side were: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. According to Scofield, P. (2011), the Federalists Papers were written by the pseudonym Publius to spread the idea of ratifying the Constitution,“Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, and it is equally undeniable, that whenever and however it is instituted, the people must cede to it some of their natural rights in order to vest it with requisite powers”. The best way to distinguish a Federalists would be their want of a strong government, and they admitted that giving up individual rights were worth keeping the country united. Publius plainly states that it was “undeniable” that the people “cede” some of their libraries for the good of the