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Shay's Rebellion: Then And Now

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Shay’s Rebellion: Then and Now
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 …show more content…

. .. God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed….Let them take arms. …The tree of liberty must be refreshed, from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” (Jefferson) As we look back we can see two separate sides of the argument, one opposing the rebellion and one supporting it. When looking at the quote previously stated we see an argument in favor of the rebellion. “The people cannot be all, and always, well informed.” Some hardships in this world can go unnoticed by the people that do not experience them, and the hardships of this time were high taxes. With this, a high tax burden to pay off war debts owed to the mercantilists fell hardest on farmers, who were required also to pay in specie. (Jensen 240) Reform did not take place until protests occurred that went beyond the boundaries of legislative requests. The farmers initial protesting began innocently and peacefully. Between 1784 and 1787, yeomen (a landholder) in Massachusetts towns sent petitions to the General Court in Boston. Many farmers went to county conventions to expose their economic grievances (Szatmary 38). Through many conventions and town meetings held from 1784 to 1786, not once was an overthrow of the government in the conversation (Szatmary 43). The farmers made an effort towards reform, peacefully through a legislative process, but no improvement was made. With no reformation or legislative action taking place, farmers turned to other forms of action. This is when attacks began appearing towards the New England Court System (Szatmary 42). These armed attacks on courts led to tyranny, and eventually through losses to militia, the rebellion of Shaysites declined. Although the rebellion ended, the thought of the possibility of another rebellion remained and through this fear reform took place. Not until a rebellion

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