Compare And Contrast Shay's Rebellion And Whiskey Rebellion

“What stronger evidence can be given of the want of energy in our governments than these disorders [Shay’s Rebellion]? If there exists not a power to check them, what security has a man for life, liberty, or property?” In this small excerpt taken from George Washington's letter to James Madison in November 5, 1786 we can observe how the Articles of Confederation is taking a negative toll in the newly born independent country. As a result of the poorly formed government established by the Articles of Confederation, rebellion began to arise amongst the states such as Shay’s Rebellion. As seen in the excerpt, because of the states not having a greater authority to check on them, many of the states imposed unfair tariffs and laws amongst its citizens, causing disorder and conflict.

Shays Rebellion Illustrates the weaknesses of the Articles of confederation under which we now live. The Articles of Confederation can not regulate trade, levy taxes, or unify these 13 colonies. These problems cause

There were many problems with the Articles of Confederation that led to its replacement by the U.S. Constitution. The states had more power than the federal government, leaving the federal government was weak. The federal government could not levy taxes, and the Articles gave major responsibilities such as negotiating treaties, coining money, and declaring war to state governments. Each state had one vote despite its population, and this angered many of the larger states who felt under-represented. Finally, the Articles lacked a judicial system, and required a unanimous vote to pass any legislature, which often proved difficult to achieve. The turning point that led to a demand for change was Shay’s Rebellion. Daniel Shay along with other farmers

Congress was the higher power at this point, and since the states separated from Britain they were still very scared of one person of group of people having too much power. Congress couldn’t tax the states, but could only ask for funds from the states; this lead to us having a lot of debt and running out of money. As a country, we had a weak central government, most of the power was in the state governments. Congress couldn’t resolve the economic problems sweeping our country at the time. These problems eventually led to Shays’ Rebellion when Daniel Shays and many other men (including veterans and farmers) showed up in front of a courthouse in Massachusetts to try and stop the court from holding a session, and trying to take over the Springfield Arsenal. It became obvious that we needed more power in the Federal government to try and find a solution these

     The Articles of Confederation was created as a result of a young nations’ distrust for a powerful centralized government, and because of this distrust the anti-federalists were blinded to the problems that arose under this document. Shay’s Rebellion exemplified the manifestation of the problems of the Article of Confederation. The decentralized government was unable to provide a stable currency that was backed by gold securities, and as a result of this the paper money that was issued was extremely weak and under valued. Problems such as this violent mob of farmers, clearly indicated that the current system was failing and the need for a centralized government was great.

Under the Articles of Confederation, the states could not be defended. When Shay’s Rebellion took place, the government could not stop them, they did not have the power or resources to do so. The Articles did not create a successful government, so the country could not protect itself (Maddex 124-125). Without the ability to protect itself, the states were not the strong independent nation they had set out to be. Under the Constitution, the stronger government needed by the United States was

There were multiple reasons that people decided to rebel against the government during. One cause of the rebellion was because debt collectors were trying to collect money that the people did not have. The money taken from the people was causing people to not be able to care for himself or herself or put money back to the community. Another reason for the rebellion was that they believe the money raised was going to the government for personal interest instead of going to the debt they owe to other countries. The next reason was that Habeas Corpus was suspended. Habeas Corpus was put in place to bring people accused of wrongdoing before a judge as a way give legal rights to the people. The suspension of Habeas Corpus caused what the people believed was “unjust punishment.” (Gray) The final reason for their rebellion was that Justices of the Peace, including Sheriffs and Deputies, were given unlimited power, which was used as a way to get revenge and show hatred. (Gray) Shay’s rebellion did open the eyes of many Politicians and they had worked the replace the constitution after. During this Rebellion, “the people engaged in civil disobedience, violence against the tax collectors and threatened to secede tram the new republic.” (The Whiskey

Another reason why Shays men were rebels is because his men would try to take over Federal Arsenals. Benjamin would refer to Shays’ Rebellion as “ mad attempts to overthrow the government of Massachusetts”. The efforts to overthrow the government were proceeded from the ignorance or the wickedness of a few. These actions showed that they were rebels.

In 1783 the American Revolution ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which gave the United States total independence. As a response to Britain's hated overpowering monarchy, the Articles of Confederation were put in place. The Articles gave each state large amounts of power and kept the central government weak. While at first the Article did preserve the independence, it was shown to be weak because it did not allow the federal government to tax or draft troops, leading to nothing getting done. In 1786 the people began to be affected by the Articles deficiency, so they rose up in Shays rebellion to try and make change themselves. While the uprising was eventually shut down in 1787, it was clear that the current government would not work. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was held in Philadelphia to come up with a new, better form of government. The Federalists wanted a strong central government while the Anti Federalists wanted to keep the weak government, to ensure that another situation like the one with Britain was impossible. The Anti Federalists had a stronger argument because of the way Britain treated the colonists under their absolute monarchy, how the colonists believed that they deserved individual rights, and the federal government would be unable to govern small everyday problems.

Another reason I believe in the actions is because the farmers were trying to fight for the right to not pay these taxes and not go to jail, leaving their families behind. On the website History.com, it states “they harassed the leading merchants, lawyers, and supporters of the state government.” This tells me that they were doing whatever it took to get the government's attention to handle the problem. Also on this website it describes how Shays’ Rebellion was crushed by the local militia. Fortunately, this problem did not threaten the stability and structure of the United States. In the article “How Shays’ Rebellion Changed America”, it claims that the rebellion pushed George Washington to become president, which was vital for the Constitution. The rebellion uprising also pushed plans for a stronger government because there were already so many problems. These plans for a stronger government led the framers to write the draft for the United States Constitution. These actions the rebellion brought actually help the Constitution come together to form a stronger national

Shay's Rebellion struck fear in to the collective souls of the conservative ruling elite, because it demonstrated that the will of the people was a bit more powerful than they were comfortable with (Faragher, Buhle, Czitrom, and Armitage, 2009, p. 182). They viewed such actions of dissent as a sign that there was too much democracy in the New World and argued in favor of a strong national government able to protect property and the rights of citizens. The idea of a strong federal government therefore gained considerable support after Shay's Rebellion and a Constitutional Convention was convened in 1787 that would attempt to address these shortcomings through a few amendments. However, what the Confederation Congress and the rest of the nation were unaware that the actual agenda of the Convention was to create a powerful centralized government by hammering out a new Constitution (Faragher, Buhle, Czitrom, and Armitage, 2009, p. 184).

During the late 1700’s, there was several protests lead by farmers that were against tax collections. The government was requesting $3 million from the states. The states requested the money in gold or silver not cheap paper money. This amount was so large, it quadrupled from the previous year’s requisition. Most states did not want to enforce the tax. Rebellions took place from New Hampshire to South Carolina, it was Massachusetts that had the worst. The farmers of Massachusetts began to petition but they went unrecognized. Them being unrecognized led them to forcibly close the county courts. The rebellion is Massachusetts was led by their leader, Daniel Shays. Which how it got its name, Shay’s Rebellion.” The rebellion was getting out of

Shay’s rebellion also exposed how weak the Articles of Confederation were. “Unlike many other state legislatures in the 1780s, the Massachusetts government didn 't respond to the economic crisis by passing pro-debtor laws (like forgiving debt and printing more paper money). As a result local sheriffs seized many farms and some farmers who couldn 't pay their debts were put in prison. These conditions led to the first major armed rebellion in the post-Revolutionary United States. Once again, Americans resisted high taxes and unresponsive government that was far away.” The federal government did not have the power to deal with Shay’s rebellion. Without an army

The establishment of a new government after the American Revolution was believed to create a prosperous, peaceful nation. However, it was the start of the foreign conflict and a fragile country. As the nation ratified the constitution, many feared or questioned the government’s authority, so the constitution tried to provide allegiance by adopting the bill of rights to secure liberty and property. (Oakes, et, al, 221-222) This created a satisfied nation, but the government was still weak since it was fairly new. As a weak form of government, Alexander Hamilton inflicted a whiskey tax to great revenue for the debt of the war. As a result, many farmers revolted against this excise tax because it violated their consent. They felt that the government was another version of the British tyranny. This event gave little to no legitimacy to the government due to the lack of trust. Thus, among the many reasons why a weak government caused the nation to become fragile.

Analysis: From this, we can see how people decided to take a rebellious act and didn’t decide to stay still. Massachusetts settlers fought through Americans taxing imported goods and ignoring what people are saying. After Massachusetts pointed out the unfair economy, other states also experienced similar situations. From this, Shays’ Rebellion, United States became a stronger nation and it resulted with a new constitution, The rebellion led George Washington to mention about the weaknesses