Economic Conflict Of Shays Rebellion

Shortly after the Revolution, America was left to govern itself. States were really countries ruling themselves and not long after, many problems occur. This led to the true last battle of the American Revolution, also known as Shays’ Rebellion when Daniel Shays led an armed rebellion in Springfield, Massachusetts to protest against the government for unjust economics and corrupt politics. Many believe Shays’ Rebellion to be unnatural and horrid, but it was justified by the Regulators’ actions as a response to the inadequate government. Based on the economy, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the letter from Washington, the letter from Jefferson, and the letter from Shays, Shays’ Rebellion was justified by the Regulators for

Shays' Rebellion was the first uprising of the new nation. The battles were fought in Massachusetts. During the time period of 1786-1787, The United States government decided to raise taxes, in order to raise capital and

The actions of the members of the Shay’s Rebellion were justified because state officials took their land, to pay their own debt. Shay’s Rebellion was a fight against government control. The country after the Revolutionary War was severely damaged especially in the trade market. The British cut off trades in the West Indies market crippling the economy. Due to the poor economy the farmers had difficulty selling their products and being able to pay the money requested to the government to pay off their war debts. This enabled the states to take the farmers’ land to pay the state's debts. Shay’s Rebellion, although dangerous the rebellion wanted to force the government to making their own money and create new policies in order to pay off the

When a revolt occurred in American History, there were countless reasons that triggered the public eye to perform acts of violence or open confrontations to the government or a famous ruler. To be more specific, the Bacon’s Rebellion was one of the most famous uprisings in the 1670s and the outcome was being defeated. Nathaniel Bacon, who was a Virginia settler, instigated the issue and wanted to start a rivalry towards the Native Americans. William Berkeley, who was the Governor of the Virginia Colony, was very easy-going about the situation and wanted no tension towards the Native Americans. Bacon believed that the Native Americans was invading Jamestown’s territory area, and he wanted Berkeley to take action by advancing better security. Since nothing was being done on Berkeley’s side of the bargain, Bacon took it upon himself and initiated his opinions to the community. Bacon informed other settlers, servants and slaves to oppose against the Native Americans. Even though this rebellion was about fighting over property, it sparked a lot of additional motives within a one-year period. The revolt had countless cause/effects, and diverse civil rules and beliefs between Berkeley and Bacon. In the 1600’s, events like culture clashing and land rights played a huge role of the riot and molded the background to the Bacon’s Rebellion. Also, the importance of the rebellion encouraged affective outcomes like the Declaration of the People and it becomes one of the first rebellions in the American Colonies.

In the book “Shays’ Rebellion: Authority and Distress in Post-revolutionary America”, Sean Condon shows us his outlook on how he saw post-revolutionary America to be within the late 1770’s and 1780’s. This book was released in 2015 by John Hopkins University Press, and was also made in a continuing book series by Peter Charles Hoffer and Willamjames Hull Hofer called Witness to History. The story takes us "Throughout the late summer and fall of 1786, farmers in central and western Massachusetts organized themselves into armed groups to protest against established authority and aggressive creditors. Calling themselves "regulators" or the "voice of the people.”” [1] Condon succeeds by prosing an appealing idea in an upfront style that shapes

The supporters of Shays’ Rebellion were doing what was right and letting the government know that they didn’t like the immensely high taxes that were in place. They fought for their rights, were illegitimately jailed, and the law enforcement misused their authority. Even if the odds were against them, the farmers still took action and protested. These signs of bravery and courage show that the protesters were not rebels, but freedom

Daniel Shays’ participated in wars early on in his life, but eventually settled in Pelham, Massachusetts, and owned about 250 acres of farmland. Continued financial difficulties from the war led Shays to sell over half the farmland, and later being sued for unpaid debts and had much difficulty in meeting his obligations. A prodigious amount of farmers in Massachusetts during this time were going through similar financial hardships; because of the Massachusetts legislature attempting to pay off its state’s war debts, they used hard taxation policies, causing situations to become worse. People petitioned for better relief and reforms but none came, the legislature in Massachusetts ignoring the fact that their citizens are petitioning and sending them resolutions to fix this problem. This led to the rebellion of the farmers against the government: Shays’ Rebellion.

“I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing” (Jefferson). Thomas Jefferson wrote these words in a letter to James Madison after hearing about Shay’s Rebellion while he was a foreign diplomat in Paris. After the rebellion happened, the “Shaysites” as they were called, were labeled as traitors to their country and the democratic form of government. But were they really? Many of the men fighting in the rebellion felt that they were being oppressed just as they had been under British rule.

Likewise to the Regulator Movement, Shay’s Rebellion occurred because of the property taken away from the poor farmers. Shay’s Rebellion of Massachusetts was caused from post war recession, lack of payment of army stipends, failure to receive payment from bonds, and farmers going into debt, which led to property being taken away from the yeomen farmers; this rebellion was significant in the terms of the realization of a stronger national government and the call for the Annapolis Convention. The elitist has little idea on what to do with the new found freedom. Currency was not yet established. Naturally a recession occurred. Trade came to a standstill. Nothing was coming in nor out. Furthermore, Shay’s Rebellion happened due to lack of

After a personnel investigation secretary of war Henry Knox, a proponent of a strong federal government, reported to congress the activities of the “regulators” was a full scale rebellion and to some degree misrepresented(possibly unintentionally) their cause in a more negative light, portraying them as anarchists(Philips). Knox identified the national arsenal at Springfield as vulnerable and after raising a privately funded militia army(because no national army existed) and intercepting a note revealing the plans of the rebels to seize Springfield he defeated them and the rebellion fizzled out with sporadic violence against wealthy landowners(Philips). Though ultimately unsuccessful, Shay’s rebellion which occurred 1786 -1787 still played an important role in the history of the U.S by underscoring the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, which were also outlined around the same time by the Annapolis convention 1786. The events of the rebellion were surely present in the minds of the delegates at the Philadelphia convention a year later, where in complete secret, the Articles of Confederation were done away with rather than improved and replaced by the much stronger United States Constitution.

The Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 and the Shay’s Rebellion in 1786 were rebellions protests against the nefarious government. Although the uprising may be separated apart by a couple of years, they did have some similarities and differences. Both the Whiskey Rebellion and the Shay’s Rebellion, demonstrated the difficulties the farmers had to face and what the government came to realize. However, the way both situations were handled in diverse ways and what the government did to the farmers was different. First of all, the Whiskey Rebellion and the Shay’s Rebellion were akin in many ways.

While rebellion is not always a healthy thing, as a result of Shay’s Rebellion we have learned many things about financial hardship after the Revolutionary War, how this affected masses of people, and how rebellion has shaped America today. Daniel Shays was one of the main leaders of the rebellion known as Shay’s Rebellion that occurred from 1786 to 1787, what Jonathan Smith says to be “one the most dramatic and significant incidents in the critical post-Revolutionary War period.” (Smith 77) With the Revolutionary War coming to an end in September of 1783, America, and its citizens, were struggling not only financially, but also politically. Financial struggles stemmed from the massive debt that the U.S. acquired

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.

Eight years of war was not enough for the so called "Regulators," and recently, these organized rebels mobbed courthouses in Northampton, Great Barrington, & Worcester. Farmers led by Daniel Shays, known by his great military conduct and being honored with the Marc Lafayette, were in search for the justice they fought for during the Revolutionary War.

The economic problems that led to Shay’s rebellion began with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the revolutionary war and recognized America’s independence. America’s independence came with some unforeseen complications, since America was no longer a British colony they were cut out of many British markets including the Caribbean. Also many American merchants were in debt to British creditors and the creditors demanded cash payments with short deadlines and harsh punishments. This in turn caused American merchants to demand their money back from businesses who were in debt to them. These businesses then called for farmers and smaller businesses to pay back their debts. In addition to having to pay back their mounting debt farmers also had to pay taxes that were being raised by