Significant Changes In Violent Protest In America From 1763 To 1791

In a time when conflict was rising between America and Britain leading to the first shots at Lexington and Concord sparking the Revolutionary War, and the powerful Federalist Party fell out of favor for a new and improved Republican party. It is in this context that the search for change was set in the heart of each and every American man and women. Two significant changes in the violent protest from 1763 to 1791, the outcome that ensued from the elite fearing the common people and the enemy who the common people targeted their anger at. Admittedly, one significant continuity in violent protest in America from 1763 to 1791, was that the rebellions were always led by the common folk of America to change the government. In the beginning of

Before the rebellions occurred, the elite ran the government without fear of the reaction of the common man. In the case of the March of the Paxton boys the British army and the state militia failed to successfully protect the poor Scots-Irish farmers who under attack from the Native Americans. Also Shays’ rebellion occurred because the government failed to pay the bonds of the poor Massachusetts farmers who participated in the Revolutionary War. In addition, Congress passed the whiskey tax without taking in consideration that whiskey was the primary source of the yeomen farmers income and the impact the tax would have on the poor farmers lives. After the rebellions occurred, the elites and government officials had to take into account the wants and needs of the common people. This is shown after the March of the Paxton Boy, in which the Paxton Boys were stopped by Benjamin Franklin and a group of civil leaders who took their problems with the government into consideration. Moreover, Shays’ Rebellion got the attention of the federal government leading to the Annapolis Convention. Which would later lead to the Constitution giving more rights to the common people of the United States of America through the Bill of Rights. In like manner, the Whiskey Rebellion grabbed the attention of the federal government leading George Washington to lead

Before America became a sovereign nation, the common yeomen farmers, who participated in the March of the Paxton Boys, Shays’ Rebellion, and the Whiskey Rebellion, often fought against the British in the Revolutionary war. This shows that Britain was a mutual enemy of the common people of America and showed their willingness to rebel when the government did not comply with the wants and needs of the common people. After the United States became a sovereign nation, the common people quickly took action on bills, law, and taxes that the common people deemed harmful to the poor farmers. One example of this would be the March of the Paxton Boys, in which the poor farmers who formed a group called the Paxton Boys slaughtered natives. This rebellion occurred after the Pennsylvania government refused to protect the farmers against the Native Americans. In addition, Shays’ Rebellion which was the common people taking a stand against the elite who were driving the farmers to economic ruining. Identically the Whiskey Rebellion was the common people rebelling against the federal government taxing their main source of income leading the farmers to economic ruin. The change in who the common people targeted their anger at occurred because the United States became a sovereign nation, causing friction between the elite class that held control