The Actions Of Shay's Rebellion

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 factors leading to Shay’s Rebellion was that at the time, money was pretty much worthless because there was little gold and silver to back the currency. Farmers suffered the most because

-Stated in the preface, Leonard L. Richards had heard the standard story of Shays's Rebellion time and time again. While finding a last-minute book for his class, he discovered in a footnote that the Massachusetts Archives had the names of the Shaysites,not just the names of the leaders, but some four thousand names. With most rebellions, finding out who participated is difficult, making this unusual. Again by accident, Richards learned that the university library had the pertinent state archives on microfilm. After working through the bad handwriting, Richards found out that the "standard story" he was taught made little sense. I believe that in wanting to tell the story right, Richards did more research and it led to his writing of this book.

A. The Shays’s Rebellion betrayed the spirit of the American Revolution by complaining of high taxes, interest rates, and a state government insensitive to their problems. They were also complaining about how hard they work and found themselves in debt to Eastern creditors.

The Constitution was put into effect in 1789. After the adoption of the Constitution, America had three presidents from 1789-1809. These presidents were: George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. George Washington set out many precedents for the country and for future presidents. John Adams efforts helped to end the Quasi war.

1. Compare and contrast the Whiskey rebellion to Shays rebellion. How would the differing results inform a historian of the power of the Federal Government in comparison to the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution? (page 187).

The Shays rebellion was a rebellion in which Daniel Shays and other men argued to the government that they felt that the Articles of Confederation was not protecting their unalienable rights ,and they didn’t receive the government's promise. This was an important event in history because it lead to The Constitution

By 1750, strains between Native Americans and colonists were still existing, leading to growing rebellious groups. In the backcountry, frontiersmen showed their frustration and opinions through bloody mutinies and rebellions. By joining together, they were able to make a point to their fellow peers and government officials. The March of Paxton Boys & Regulator Movement were both colonial uprisings, in an attempt to reform or dislodge the government and some of its officials. Contrariwise, Shay’s Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion were both protests against some form of the economy; yet all were very dangerous acts of violence in colonial America.

Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 was primarily driven by discontent among poorer settlers in Virginia, exacerbated by the government's failure to adequately protect them from Native American attacks on the frontier. Nathaniel Bacon's leadership tapped into these grievances, sparking a rebellion that highlighted broader issues of class disparity and colonial governance. Bacon's rebellion had started over Indian policy. But the “zealous inclination of the multitude” to support Bacon was due, he said, to “hopes of levelling”. (Zinn, 42)

The question of Shays rebellion being rebels or freedom fighters is a highly debated topic in US history. Although some people may think that they were reckless rebels, nevertheless they were just trying to be heard, and they were freedom fighters with a good cause trying to keep what was theirs, because the government was giving them unlawful punishment if they couldn’t pay their taxes, the government wasted their money on vanity, and lastly the farmers fought back in big ways that may have seemed reckless, and rebel-like, but they were just trying to be heard.

“Better to fight for something than to live for nothing.” -George S. Patton. This is the opinion of many, and may have been in the minds of Shays’ and his followers in the event known as Shays’ Rebellion. Shays’ Rebellion was an event where farmers rebelled against the government for taxes that were “too high”. They stole weapons and though they were small in number, scared people around the country.

“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.

The nation fell into a recession after the Revolutionary War and the disastrous financial situation allowed by the Articles only made matters worse. The problems with the Articles became undeniable in 1786 when Daniel Shay, a Massachusetts farmer and retired captain in the Continental Army, led his fellow farmers in resistance against farm foreclosures. He led armed bands of these men against the courts of western Massachusetts in an effort to force a closure of the court system (Text, 110). The rebellion was defeated by January of the following year but it was clear that change was needed.

There were many rebellions in the United States history, some peaceful and some violent. Shays' Rebellion in 1786 and the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 are examples of two brutal rebellions that led to death of many innocent people. Rebellions can develop due to many conditions including unfair laws, unfair treatment, and a disagreement over a sensitive topic. The Shays' Rebellion showed the Articles of Confederation was too weak, while the Whiskey Rebellion proved the Constitution to be a strong framework of government.

in a revolution or a civil war. In law, rebellion is considered an act of