Daniel Shays Rebellion

What is a “Rebellion”? Do rebellions occur in our world today? According to merriam-webster.com, “A rebellion is an effort by many people to change the government or leader of a country by the use of protest or violence.” There are multiple global and national crises that occur in today’s society and they typically involve efforts from people to change a certain situation by the use of violence. For example, last year there was an incident that occurred in Ferguson, Missouri which involved the killing of an innocent black teenager named Michael Brown. Michael was gunned down by a white officer and that caused a rebellion to grow in Ferguson, Missouri. This particular rebellion consisted of a lot of rioting and protesting. However, violence

For example, in the winter of 1787, Massachusetts was the premiere showing of the ongoing rebellion that was about to reach its final stretch. This was a battle against governor troops and the 2,200 rebels led by Daniel Shays. However, the outcome was unforeseen. The governor troops were very prepared and had advanced military weapons to help support them such as a canon. General William Shepard, had canons firing towards Daniel Shay and his army of rebels. He did this because he was trying to force them to disperse. With the canon the governor troops attacked the rebels and left many dead and more wounded. After realizing all the causalities, the rest of the rebels’ fled. This proves that the Shays Rebellion was a poorly planned and an unsuccessful

During the summer of 1786, all over Massachusetts, Shays held conventions and there lists were made to determine certain demands that were to be delivered to state governors’ leaders in Boston. One of the founding fathers, Samuel Adams, became senate president and one of the first things he did was ban all conventions. After elected he spoke to the public and said “Conventions are not only useless, but dangerous. They served an excellent purpose when they were set up, but no more!” As time went on, Shays started to march along with his followers to bring down the arsenal. Samuel Adams feared a Civil War was going to occur and wanted to prevent any occurrence of such thing. By 1786, George Washington had enjoyed about 3 years of retirement. However, when news spread of a rebellion in Massachusetts, Washington became concerned. Anxious for news, he relied heavily on reports from old companions such as General Henry Knox and General Benjamin Lincoln of Massachusetts. Shays Rebellion led to George Washington ultimately coming out of retirement. Along with Samuel Adams, General William Shepard also tried to suppress the Shays Rebellion.
In order for a rebellion to be successful in reaching its goal, there must be an individual who is smart in the sense that coming up with good tactics is essential. This did not apply to the Shays Rebellion. The Shays Rebellion was not successful. Even though they had