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Daniel Shays: Rebel Or Rebel?

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As Thomas Jefferson wrote, “...what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let the people take arms.” In January 1787, a group of farmers lead by Daniel Shays protested in Massachusetts, because they were upset about unfair taxing laws and because of them, lost their property, couldn’t make money, and were sent to jail. They protested by taking over the government’s arsenal. Although some may argue that Daniel Shays and his followers were rebels because of their controversial methods, nevertheless Shays and his followers were freedom fighters, because they had a valid reason for what they did, the laws were unfair, and they were just trying to get their rights. …show more content…

The American farmers were men who fought in the Revolutionary War and were owed money for their service. A farmer’s salary wasn’t much so they could barely afford to pay their taxes. To top it off, the money they were paying for taxes was being used incorrectly. According to Daniel Gray in a speech he made December 7th, 1786, “Money from taxes and fees should be used to pay off the foreign debt. Instead it is being used to pay off investments that are held by wealthy Americans.” This proves that they had a good reason for their actions as they were paying taxes they already could barely afford to pay, should have been getting their money for fighting for America, but instead were unknowingly helping the wealthy get more money or as Gray put it in his speech the, “rich get

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Last night on February 4, 1787, General Benjamin Lincoln attacked members of the Shays’ Rebellion, and successfully captured 150 of the rebels. As a result, Daniel Shays left Massachusetts and fled to Vermont. Shays Rebellion was an armed rebellion consisting of 1,200 angry farmers from Massachusetts. They caused major chaos in this state. On December 26, 1786 Daniel Shays and the rebels revolted in Springfield, Massachusetts insisting that the state legislature address their issues, such as lack of money.

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The purpose of the article was chastised farmers for amassing property with no means of paying their debt. The author goes on the criticize the legislature for wanting to remain popular by not enforcing farmers to pay their debt. This source supports Mr. Holton’s argument that representatives were also reluctant to load their constituents down with burdensome federal taxes, which crippled the government

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Riyana Patel 12/6/15 Mr. Riotto US 1 H Chapter 7 Summary The chapter starts of with a detailed description of events before a series of protests from 1786-1787 known as Shay’s Rebellion, led by Daniel Shay in Western Massachusetts. This rebellion was to overthrow the state government by going against the Springfield arsenal; this movement was an example of the weakened government and led to the ratification and adoption of the United States Constitution. With the end of the royal authority the Continental Congress became the national government and formed state governments that were governed by the people. Although by the end of 1777 Articles of Confederation were proposed by John Dickinson, in order to help keep

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445 Words | 2 Pages

“The seeds of war are now sown” said Daniel Shays when some farmers were thrown in jail and then Shays Rebellion happened at first it didn’t work. But now we are going to learn about Daniel Shays Birth,Childhood, and Early Years of Daniel Shays. In Daniel Shays early years he was born on August 1747 (No specific date) in Hopkinton,Massachusetts.

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148 Words | 1 Pages

Shays’ Rebellion was a pivotal moment in American history. Shays’ Rebellion, led by Daniel Shays, was an armed rebellion that took place from August of 1786 until early 1787, starting in Springfield, Massachusetts. Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran, was able to gather 1,500 farmers who all thought the same thing: taxes were too high and the government they had was unresponsive. By doing this, Shays was able to expose the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, which eventually led to many of the government’s leaders declaring that the Articles of Confederation were inadequate, as well as the ratification of the Constitution. In this essay, it will become clear just how important and necessary Shay's Rebellion was, and how it changed America

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In the declaration of independence and the letter from Jefferson on Shay's Rebellion proves that Jefferson would support modern day protests. For example in paragraph 1 it states "God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion.". This line tells us how there will always be protests. Jefferson writes "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with blood of patriots and tyrants.". Here Jefferson is inturrpeting that rebellions and protests are natural and they will happen from"time to time".

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Farmers in the Shay’s Rebellion were treated unfairly . Although the farmers in Shay’s Rebellion were considered reckless rebels, nevertheless they should be recognized as freedom fighters because they fought for things to be fair, they protested for people’s rights to be better, and they fought for what they thought was right. First of all, the farmers fought for things to be fair because many things were not fair to them and to others . According to class notes, “Farmers were losing land and going to jail,” this shows that they were treated unfairly and they were getting punished for doing nothing.

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Shay and his men rebelled by seizing the arms at the Springfield, Massachusetts armory and creating havoc in the region. The popularity of Shay’s rebellion grew as more farmers joined the rebellion against the state. Finally, a force of militiamen stopped the rebellion. How do we insure the liberty of those who are affected by these local rebellions? An organized Standing Army would insure the security of the people in the United States.

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In the American Revolution, colonists formed militias and engaged in armed conflict against British forces. The use of arms was integral to the colonists' ability to resist British rule and protect their rights and liberties. Similarly, the Whiskey Rebellion, as a response to the whiskey excise tax, saw some rebel groups resorting to armed resistance. While the rebellion was primarily characterized by localized protests and sporadic violence, there were instances where armed groups clashed with authorities or engaged in acts of defiance. For example, in Chapter 3, Cornell states “In the Summer of 1794 a group of angry protestors marched to the home of tax collector General John Neville.

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“Let the people take arms. The remedy is to present them with the facts, pardon, and pacify them.” (A letter by Thomas Jefferson, paragraph 2). Shays’ Rebellion was a group of American citizens that were fighting for their rights and were against taxation during the 1780s. Although many people perceive Shays and his followers as rebels, nevertheless Shays’ and his followers were freedom fighters because the government were treating others unfairly, the justice system was full of revenge, hatred, etc., and the wealthy became more rich from taxes.

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1449 Words | 6 Pages

In 1786, there were a series of protests by the name of Shay’s Rebellion led by American farmers who were against state and local enforcement of tax collection and judgements for debts. It is said that during Shay’s Rebellion the rebels tried to capture the federal arsenal at Springfield and harassed leading merchants, lawyers, and supporters of the state government (History.com). Not everyone agrees 100 percent with the government, frequently not even 50 percent agree. Those who do not agree go through extreme measures to be heard by their higher power, so that they can try to change the outcome of what has become of the government's

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657 Words | 3 Pages

The Whiskey Rebellion, a protest to stop the taxing on liquor and whiskey, represented the first major test of the national government's ability to enforce laws within the states. Because the Whiskey Rebellion farmers threatened both “the just authority of government” and “the rights of individuals,” Washington used military force to show that armed rebellion was not allowed. Washington determined that the national government had the right to pass laws and the right to enforce these laws to keep the nation running smoothly. The military dominance of the Whiskey Rebellion established a precedent that United States citizens wishing to protest had to do so peacefully through constitutional means, not jeopardizing citizens’

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999 Words | 4 Pages

“ Hamilton’s financial plan found two tax sources for the new national government (Washington, 5).” Not only did the citizens not want to pay tax, but the farmers thought it was irrelevant. Both the Whiskey Rebellion, and Hamilton’s Financial Plan both put Washington in debt because people refused to pay their taxes.

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1034 Words | 5 Pages

Shay’s Rebellions follow the Revolutionary war and how the US fell into a economic crisis, There were a lot of tension due to farmers losing their property to to debt collectors. In January 1787, him and his force were sent to a federal armory at Springfield but it failed due the artillery fire and how it lead to 4 people being killed and 20 people being wounded. Rebellion doesn’t always end up peaceful and it can also show no improvement at.

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849 Words | 4 Pages

Daniel Shays, an american soldier and farmer organized over a thousand other farmers that followed him on a march to the Springfield Armory in attempt to prevent the Massachusetts Supreme Court from meeting. Even though Shays was defeated by the militia, the rebellion made it known that state and national governments could not stop violence from happening. An immediate effect of this rebellion was the Annapolis Convention. Shays’ Rebellion lead to the Annapolis Convention because a change needed to be made to the Articles to reduce sectional and political violence in America. While Shays’ Rebellion was not successful in its original purpose, it made the framers aware that a change needed to be made in order to further improve the

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