...Shays Rebellion Historiography Paper In 1786 Daniel Shay, a farmer, and former revolutionary war officer led two thousand other farmers and angry men to attempt to shut down the courts of the tyrannical government in three western counties in Massachusetts. This event has come to be known as Shays Rebellion. In 1784 a depression has arrived and began in Massachusetts after the state lost its best market, the British West Indies. Also the state legislature had to pay off revolutionary war debts, and since Britain was low on gold and silver coins, they would not accept paper money as a worthy currency. For this cause the state demanded taxes to pay off the debts. However at the bottom of the food chain, or cycle were the poor hard working farmers. None of the farmers could afford to pay off their taxes, and like other farmers in America, Massachusetts farmers were used to paying creditors and other farmers certain items. These items would include grain, wool, or sometimes, they would offer services such as shoeing a horse, or helping to build a barn. However the government demanded that everybody, including the poor farmers to pay taxes, and since this was foreign to the farmers, not a lot of farmers paid because they could not afford to. Another factor was since agriculture was low in Massachusetts, not a lot of farmers made much money. For this, poor farmers had meetings to discuss the way of the government. With it, Daniel Shay, a farmer and former Revolutionary war officer...
Words: 1420 - Pages: 6
...national government. Richard’s new found set of data allows for a more detailed and accurate depiction of the Shay’s Rebellion than any other before stated version. Richard’s explains the use of this data to observe the participants of the rebellion, the causes and the outcomes all in a socioeconomic stand point. The book Shay’s Rebellion by Leonard L. Richards is about the subject of the armed uprising in Massachusetts that occurred in the summer of 1786 through the winter of 1787, called Shay’s Rebellion. Shay’s Rebellion was started by a western Massachusetts farmer named Daniel Shay who was a...
Words: 1077 - Pages: 5
...Edonis Shehu History1301 12/7/12 Professor Troy Shays Rebellion January 25, 1787 was a day that played a huge factor in making the young nation, America, think very carefully about its form of government. Snow was falling eminently that day as the group of farmers and ex-revolutionary soldiers marched through it. All the ammunition and gunpowder the rebels needed to go to Boston and over throw the government was inside that federal arsenal. They had just one thing standing in there way, nine hundred militia troops. In this essay, we’re going to take a look at all the factors that led to Shays Rebellion, go in deep depth of how it all went down and show why this incident is one of the most important events of the United States. America after the Revolutionary War was in shambles. Americans had paid a very heavy toll for this independence. Thousands of men had died, homes and farms had been destroyed, and the nation was governed by a Congress which was governed by the Articles of Confederation; which was a really weak system of central government. Daniel Shays was born into poverty in Western Massachusetts and worked as a farm laborer most of his life. Shays goes into the Revolutionary War as a Private, spends five years fighting and leaves the war as a Captain. Marquis de Lafayette honored him with a sword because he thought Shays did a superior job under him. Soldiers were paid for the war they entered, but were paid in currency that depreciated very quickly, which was...
Words: 1738 - Pages: 7
...Daniel Shays, a famous farmer, military captain and rebel leader, was born in 1747 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Shays was not much of an educated man and began his work as a farmer at a young age. When the Revolutionary War started he joined a local militia, passionate about his right to freedom. Shays fought in the famous Battle of Bunker Hill and Ticonderoga and eventually earned his rank to be a captain. Many of Shays fellow brothers in arms considered him a very brave soldier and an excellent leader. He eventually earned the title as the captain of the 5th Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army, but later resigned from the army in 1780. After resigning from the Army, he returned to a region in western Massachusetts that was suffering economically from the war. He moved back to live with his wife Abagail and his children. Shays returned to being a farmer but the farming industry was particularly hurt from the lack of trade and resources due to the Revolution. In 1782 Shays was elected to the county office to discuss the issues of farming. Shays was...
Words: 612 - Pages: 3
...The 13 colonies overthrew the British and became its own independent states throughout countless blood sheed. It still had problems maintaining order in the states due to the war debts left behind after the Revolution and it inefficient methods of collecting tax. Another major issue in the 13 states was the high taxation on farmers who had little to no wealth. This lead to many rebellion all over the states such as the Shays Rebellion. The Shays Rebellion was a uprising in Massachusetts lead by a verten Daniel Shays, who had returned from war due to injuries. Daniel Shays returned home without being paid, instead being at debts like many other poor americans( Cotton,90). Although, It was an unsuccessful rebellion, it caught the eye of...
Words: 411 - Pages: 2
...Hughie Erskine is a very handsome young man who is very well-known, but he has a hard time keeping a job. Although he is good-looking, he is not very clever and doesn’t have any money of his own. He changes jobs more often than not before he finally decides to stop working and live off of money that is given to him by his aunt. Hughie falls in love with Laura Merton, who is the daughter of a retired Colonel. He proposes to her, but the Colonel won’t allow them to get married until he has ten thousand pounds of his own. Alan Trevor, who was a good friend of Hughie, was a very talented painter. Hughie visits him one day and watches him as he paints a model. After much questioning, Hughie is told that the model is a beggar-man and isn’t going to get paid much for his services. Hughie feels bad for the man, so he digs through his pockets and gives him a sovereign. Later in the day, Hughie is told that the beggar-man was not in fact a beggar-man at all. He was actually a millionaire named Baron Hausberg, which upset Hughie immensely. The next morning, Baron Hausberg’s messenger was sent to deliver Hughie a letter. Inside the letter was a check for ten thousand pounds, a wedding present from Baron Hausberg. At the wedding, Alan was the best man and Baron Hausberg also attended the wedding and gives a speech at the wedding breakfast. Alan’s speech closes the story with, “Millionaire models are rare enough, but model millionaires are rarer...
Words: 273 - Pages: 2
...It was 1786 and farmers in Massachusetts started a rebellion known as Shays Rebellion. Shays Rebellion was important indeed, because it is a major event leading to a formation of a new constitution. Shays rage began to rise as the Massachusetts legislature ls denied farmers demands for money which would have stopped the government from taking their houses/land.As the farmers wishes were ignored they began to lose their belongings and other goods.Seeing the depression and the effect the foreclosure had on his community, shays was moved and started a rebellion in which he risked his life in hopes that the government would change and help the people with their debts.Shays left no time to waste as he started to round up troops and made an attack...
Words: 407 - Pages: 2
...You watch as a man named Daniel Shays prises open the arsonal door. Inside the dark room were weapons. You hear shouting, gunfire and pain. You’ve been shot. Then blackness. Shays’s Rebellion was a time after the Revolutionary War. The farmers were being taxed heavily. They thought this was unfair. Daniel Gray the leader who started the riots believed that he and his followers were freedom fighters, nevertheless many citizens were concerned that the reckless rebels were dangerous, because they can't pay their debts, the farmers were restless criminals, and they caused many riots. Immediately after the Revolutionary War the rebels so were unable to pay their debts. According to Doc. A the farmers stated that their “money is being used to help the rich get richer.” but...
Words: 475 - Pages: 2
...Daniel Shays’ rebellion started a new growing crisis in Massachusetts. This time of critical issues took place in the years 1786 to 1787. The rebellion was a turning point of the economic depression going on after the Revolutionary War. The states then raised their taxes so they could get the debt paid off. The farmers of the central and western areas couldn’t pay these taxes with cash and went in to debt themselves. As the farmers didn’t pay it off, their debt began burgeoning, and they lost their farms to foreclosure. Losing their farms made the farmers angry and, they started to uproar. The debt problems caused the first major rebellion after the Revolutionary War. Massachusetts citizens felted betrayed by the government and wanted...
Words: 418 - Pages: 2
...from all over central and western Massachusetts, a majority of them farmers. Led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays, these men gathered in protest of high taxes and unfair debt collection. Hidden within the armory was General William Shepard, who commanded 1,000 militiamen. Shepard, not wanting bloodshed over the armory, sent two aides to warn the rebels of the impending attack. Undeterred, the farmers, who called themselves the New England Regulation, advanced on the armory, urged on by one of their leaders, Daniel Shays. Shepard fired two cannons above the farmer’s...
Words: 407 - Pages: 2
...In 1786, about 700 debt-ridden farmers led by Daniel Shays took part in a violent uprising in western Massachusetts. They attacked courthouses to stop officials from foreclosing on farms. The farmers rebelled against state taxes that were difficult to pay due to the economic depression. The Massachusetts militia was called to end the mob violence, but many Americans saw shay’s Rebellion as a sign that the Articles of Confederation was not working. Fearing a future crisis, leaders called for a convention to discuss forming a stronger government. This led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia. The rebellion started on August 29, 1786. It was precipitated by several factors: financial difficulties brought about by a post-war...
Words: 254 - Pages: 2
...A is not correct because on the website, "Shays' Rebellion: American History," it said that "Daniel Shays was pardoned in 1788." According to "Dictionary Law," a pardon is "the executive power of a Governor or President to forgive a person convicted of a crime." This means that Shays' conviction was treated as "it had never occurred," and punishments or penalties could not be given to him. Though Shays was not hung "by the neck until death," Charles Rose and John Bly, two rebels, were hung on December 6, 1787. B is the correct answer because in the textbook, on page 207, it says that the state of Massachusetts sent 4,400 militiamen who were able to "scatter Shays' debtor army with a single cannon blast." Though rebels were repressed, or...
Words: 310 - Pages: 2
...The historical context between these two documents is the Shays rebellion and why the articles of confederation were changed after it. Shays' Rebellion happened on October 23, 1786, in Massachusetts. The people involved were Daniel Shays, George Washington, and Henry Knox. Shay's rebellion was a protest because of the many unjust things that happened to the government. Some of those things include unjust economic policies and political corruption. Such as Massachusetts raising the This was described to George Washington, the president at the time, by Henry Knox. After hearing about this, George Washington decides to change the Articles of Confederation because he feels that they need to make the government and army stronger. This rebellion...
Words: 306 - Pages: 2
...Daniel Shays led a typical life of a man in the 1770-80’s. He grew up on a farm, when he was of age he enlisted in the army, and after the war all he wanted was to start a family. He soon realized that this would be difficult for him and many others like himself. It came to his and many other veterans attention that “…a new form of homegrown tyranny was quickly replacing the old British one.”(P.31) With taxes rising and crop prices decreasing, farmers made little to no money. This caused protests to break out with farmers and veterans leading them. The government was losing control of the people and they were scared. Daniel Shays led many rebellions and got attention from the Founding Fathers that would eventually lead to the creation of our nation's Constitution. Despite the fact that the English lost the war, the trading system that was in place worked in a way that London ended up getting American workers money. This system crashed after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. With the British demanding money from American merchants, the merchants pressured those in debt to them for money, the debtors turned to small businesses who owed them money. The small businesses had nowhere to turn from...
Words: 827 - Pages: 4
...George washington in his response aims to shine the light on how if actions related to shays rebellion aren't stopped at once it will become a snowball effect and lead to America's turmoil. He believes that if some farmers feel this compassionate about how the government is being ran something must be wrong and needs change. During the time period of Shays’s rebellion George Washington was already in retirement, but he had a reputation from before of being a military leader in the American revolution. Henry knox a friend from the war wrote him to ask for his advice knowing and trusting his ideals. Washington was a well respected man and his opinion was important to other members in power whom were still in the public's eye. Although, Washington wanted to retire and live the rest of his life out of the public’s eye shays’s rebellion was the reason he decide to come out of retirement and work to create a...
Words: 760 - Pages: 4