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Essay On Shay's Rebellion

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Shay’s rebellion was a crisis happened in 1780s at rural areas of central and western Massachusetts. At that time, many farmers were bonded to high debt when they started new farm, because of the local government did not handle the economic crisis well, there was no pro-debtor laws (i.e. forgiving debt and print more paper money). They already sent letters to the elected leaders, however, they only getting ignored by the state government, also the national government could not do anything because they had no power under the Articles of Confederation, which had many weaknesses, such as; (1) The national government did not have power to tax, (2) Congress did not have power to forces the states to obey the laws, (3) There was no system of national courts, (4) Congress could declare war and raise army, however it could not force the state …show more content…

Because of those, Articles of Confederation was too weak to handle all the issues, which U.S. was unable to defend its own country against rebellion. Moreover, the local sheriff seized many farmers who could not pay their debts. This condition caused to the first armed civil disobedience in post-Revolutionary of U.S. Obviously, Americans was disagreed with high taxes and unresponsive government. the farmers at western Massachusetts organized their rebellion similar to the American Revolutionary way. They held special meeting of the citizens to protest and agree on organized demonstration. It caused the rebels to close the court by force and freed the debtors from jail. The rebellion incident happened under Daniel Shays leadership, a former captain of ground force and Revolutionary War veteran. Shays forced George Washington and the other Americans to rethink about Confederation system and the

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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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A is an incorrect statement because Daniel Shays did not get killed or executed as a result of the conflict. In the source titled, "Mount Vernon" it stated that "Many participants were later captured and most men, including Shays, eventually received amnesty as part of a general pardon. " Daniel Shays was not hung, rather he was released back to his family where he later died in September 1825. Answer choice B is the legitimate answer because in the book for this class it says, "The state government [Massachusettes] responded by sending 4,400 militiamen.

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They all had an immense amount of debt due to the government not paying the veterans, and the taxes being increased for farming. This led to Daniel Shays becoming one of the numerous leaders of the rebellions. At first they tried to change the laws peacefully by having a petition for them stating that the veterans and farmers were being treated unfairly because these new laws, guidelines, and new legislature rules (legislature was controlled by merchant interest). Therefore since the legislature was controlled by eastern merchant interest the petitions were declined which caused even more issues for the veterans and farmers. Protests began to increase tremendously, in August 1786 the legislature was going to have a court meeting considering the many petitions against the rebellions, but Shays had formed a protest that marched to the courthouse and prevented them from having the court sitting.

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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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After series of taxation without representation placed upon the American colonies by the Great Britain, the colonies finally declared independence in 1776. To become a stabilized country, the colonies established the Article of Confederation the following year. Americans were upset that under the Article of Confederation their voice was not being heard in the government and their businesses were failing economically. As a result, Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels against the government because of the economic and civil rights injustices. Then the Founding Fathers gathered at the Philadelphia in 1787 to modify the Article of Confederation.

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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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America had just won the revolutionary war and became a free nation. Their constitution, the Articles of Confederation had many problems. Many farmer colonists felt like America was just another form of England with high taxes and unfair laws. Eventually, the depression was so bad the colonist got fed up and started to devise a plan. Daniel Shays was the leader of planning the rebellion.

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Additionally, Shay and other farmers caused chaos in the country. For example, Thomas Jefferson had sstated in Document C, that anarchy exists ¨in the single instance of Shayś Rebellion.¨ (Document C, Thomas Jefferson) In other words, Shay and his followers were the only cause of any disorder in the US. Not only did Thomas Jefferson see the mayhem Shayś Rebellion had caused, but Abigail Adams could see it too. According to Document B, Shay and his followers were described as a ¨mob of rebels wants to weaken the foundation of our country, and destroy the whole fabric of our nation.¨ (Document B, Abigail Adams) Shayś Rebellion was motivated by a desire to destroy the country and consequently, chaos ensued.

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Shay’s Rebellion “What country before ever existed without a rebellion?” a quote from Jefferson in document C. Throughout the history of the United States many conflicts and protests have occurred. One of these was Shay’s rebellion and it was caused by the government not paying war veterans their money after fighting in the war. This made the protesters threaten the court that they are going to raid the armory and many people consider them rebels for this. Although many people thought the farmers or war veterans were rebels, nevertheless they are truly freedom fighters because they stood up for what was right, kept the government aware of needs, and were not treated fairly.

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This is because Shays rebellion took place because the poor farmers were fighting against the outrageous taxes which were leaving them without land and in prison with no means of supplying food for their families. In many states at the time if someone didn't have land they weren't able to vote because in the governments eyes they had no power. These taxes were taking away the farmers land which then also took away their right to vote which left them powerless and made their options pointless. Poor farmers ended up in jail which left their families out on the streets begging for money and a means to survive. Just like the whiskey rebellion farmers were left without a way to supply for their family because the demand of whiskey was way down after the government increase the tax by 25%.

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This lead to a disparity of wealth throughout the states that Congress could not correct. This economic depression also contributed to the Massachusetts farmers’ revolt. Not only could they barely afford to pay off debt using the little money gained from the war, they also had to face financial hardship. This fueled the rebellion, which ultimately resulted Shays leading a group of 2,200 men to unsuccessfully raid a federal arsenal. Through these three issues, it was clear to many people of the time that the US direly needed a strong federal government.

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775 Words | 4 Pages

In 1786 Shay’s Rebellion broke out. Shay’s Rebellion was a rebellion in Massachusetts made up of veterans who were given land in the form of payment for their service in the Revolutionary War. Their property had been foreclosed by the state because they could not pay their land tax. They intimidated lawyers and judges and burned courthouses until the militia stopped them. According to a letter from Henry Knox to George Washington, “The commotions of Massachusetts have wrought prodigious change in the minds of men in that state respecting the Powers of Government every body says they must be strengthened, and that unless this shall be effected, there is no...

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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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Shay's Rebellion, the most prominent act of defiance toward federal authority, was a series of protests in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers throughout the states of New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Massachusetts against state and local governments of tax collections. Due to bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes farmers faced the possibility of losing their farms. Although unsuccessful, the rebellion led by Daniel Shay, a former captain in the Continental army, alarmed politicians and ultimately called for a revision or replacement of the Articles of

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Due to the fact that Massachusetts was newly settled, yeoman farmers were attempting to build new farms resulting in debt that the farmers could not pay. The yeoman farmers were also in debt because of a post-war recession, lack of payment of their army stipends, and failure to receive payment for their bonds. These debts lead to farmers being arrested which caused the anger that lead to the creation of Shays’ Rebellion. Other states with this problem were passing laws to protect their farmers during this economic crisis, but Massachusetts did not which further angered the lower class. The already poor farmers were forced to give up their land as payment because the farmers could not pay their debts in specie.

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