Shays' Rebellion

American Studies Mr. Carlson Shays' Rebellion The American Revolution ended in 1783, but the young nation it created faced a difficult time. Nowhere was this more evident than to the people of Western Massachusetts where a severe economic depression made life difficult for farmers living in this part of New England. The depression forced people who were unable to pay their debts into court where many judges ruled they must come up with the money to pay their debts or be thrown into jail. The farmers blamed their troubles on the wealthy, mercantile (business class) elite of Eastern Massachusetts, especially Boston, who demanded hard currency to pay foreign creditors. The farmers of Western Massachusetts, after years of frustration, reacted with an armed uprising that lasted for six months at the end of 1786 and start of 1787. The Rebellion started with petitions to the government for paper currency, lower taxes, and judicial reform. When this failed, the farmers took more drastic measures. The first target of the Rebellion was the Court of Common Pleas at Northampton, Massachusetts. At this courthouse, in late August of 1786, an armed group of farmers kept from the judge from taking his position behind bench. Similar groups of rebels stormed the courts at Worcester, Concord, Taunton, and Great Barrington in the following weeks. They hoped to prevent further trials and imprisonment of people who could not repay their debts. The man who rose to lead these bands of rebels was Captain Daniel Shays, a veteran of the Revolutionary War and a farmer from Pelham, Massachusetts. In late September of 1786, The Supreme Judicial Court charged Shays and eleven other leaders with sedition (rebellion or disobedience of the law) and more charges followed. In response to these accusations, Shays and 1,500 followers, many wearing their old Continental Army uniforms, gathered outside the Springfield Courthouse on September 25 and forced the court to adjourn. For the next 4 days, Shays' rebels occupied the courthouse to keep the Supreme American Studies Mr. Carlson Judicial Court from sitting. If the judge could not hold court, then he could not have a trial to convict Shays and his followers. On December 26, 1786 Shays assembled 1,200 men near Worcester, Massachusetts and headed toward the Federal Arsenal in Springfield in order to secure guns and ammunition. This action prompted Massachusetts Governor James Bowdoin to assemble 4,400 militiamen under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln to defend the courts and protect the state of Massachusetts. One month later, in late January of 1787, Shays, with 2,000 farmers behind him, arrived in Springfield and proceeded with an assault on the arsenal. General William Shepard successfully defended the arsenal with 1,200 local militiamen. The rebels suffered four dead and twenty wounded in the attack. General Lincoln soon arrived in Springfield with reinforcements and quickly chased Shays' army into the neighboring towns. The rebels were taken completely by surprise on the morning of February 3 in Petersham, Massachusetts. General Lincoln had marched his troops through a snowstorm the previous night in order to mount the attack on the rebels. The farmers scattered, and the rebellion was ended. Most of the rebels took advantage of a general amnesty (pardon) and surrendered. Shays and a few other leaders escaped for a while. The Supreme Judicial Court soon sentenced fourteen of the rebellion's leaders, including Shays, to death for treason. They were later pardoned by the newly elected Governor John Hancock. Only two men, John Bly and Charles Rose of Berkshire County, were hung for their part in the Rebellion. A new Massachusetts legislature in Boston began to undertake the slow work of reforming the problems that caused the rebellion in the first place. That summer, the Federal Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia struggled to create a stronger central government that would "establish justice and insure domestic tranquility." Shays' Rebellion is considered the one of the leading causes in the formation of the United States Constitution. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Madison, from Paris, Jan. 30, 1787 "I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of the government." American Studies Mr. Carlson Name _____________________________ Period _____ George Washington, Letter to James Madison, Nov. 5, 1786 "Let us look to our National character, and to things beyond the present period. No Morn ever dawned more favorable than ours did-and no day was ever more clouded than the present! Wisdom, & good examples are necessary at this time to rescue the political machine from the impending storm." Chief Justice William Cushing, Supreme Judicial Court, in the Hampshire Gazette, June 6, 1787 "[I fear] evil minded persons, leaders of the insurgents...[waging war] against the Commonwealth, to bring the whole government and all the good people of this state, if not continent, under absolute command and subjugation to one or two ignorant, unprincipled, bankrupt, desperate individuals." Discussion Questions Why is Shays’ Rebellion considered one of the leading causes in the formation of the United States Constitution? Recall Thomas Jefferson's quote from his letter to James Madison when he states, “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing… It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of the government"? Why does he think a "little rebellion now and then" is a good thing? How is it "medicine" for the government? Adapted from, Supreme Judicial Court Historical Society Written by Stephen C. O'Neill, Copyright ©1998..

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