When a group rises up for what they believe in, it can have incredible results. Sometimes those results can even have rippling effects that have the power to create one of the strongest nations on Earth. Shays’ Rebellion was one of those defining moments and without it this country may have crumbled long ago.
Farmers Troubles
For the first few years of piece, after the Revolutionary War, the commercial and agrarian society’s future appeared to be in danger by a chain of debt bothering the postwar years depressed economy. The horrible economy had effects on nearly everybody in New England, particularly the farmers. The farmers for years had been accustomed to growing only enough for what they required and grew very little in surplus. The issue with this way of farming is that with little to no surplus it is very hard to earn enough money for paying excessive debts. Since farmers had very little money the buyers offered the item they needed on short term credit and received any surplus farm goods for seasonal payment. But if the farmer ended up with a less than satisfactory crop, shopkeepers would normally extend the credit and basically tied the farmer to their business yearly. When a credit crisis happens, the slow disintegration of this culture became more and more obvious. In times of hardship, merchants that needed cash withdrew credit from their farmer customers and called for hard cash repayment of loans. These kind of demands showed how the commercial elite were growing in power which unsettled the farmers of New England. Many of the farmers in debt were put in debtors prison. Some decided to take a stand and start a rebellion.
Uprising
Daniel Shays was the person that went on to lead the rebellion. He was born in Hopkinton...
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...f semi sovereign states dominating the political system. Shays’ Rebellion also influenced the need for the government to have an army standing by.
If it had not been for debtors and farmers rising up against the government we may very well have ended up with a totally different nation than the one we have today. If they had kept quiet and not risen up we might have not found out about the weakness of our national government and its inability to protect the peace until it was too late. Without that strong unification this country may have fallen to pieces during the Civil War. During the World Wars any country may have even been able to invade and crush this country completely. We’ve had a strong country and military that has kept up going through all of those wars and threats and Shay’s Rebellion was a defining event that pushed us to gain that unity and strength.
Gary B. Nash argues that the American Revolution portrayed “radicalism” in the sense on how the American colonies and its protesters wanted to accommodate their own government. Generally what Gary B. Nash is trying to inform the reader is to discuss the different conditions made by the real people who were actually fighting for their freedom. In his argument he makes it clear that throughout the revolution people showed “radicalism” in the result of extreme riots against the Stamp Act merchants, but as well against the British policies that were implemented. He discusses the urgency of the Americans when it came to declaring their issues against the British on how many slaves became militants and went up against their masters in the fight for a proclamation to free themselves from slavery. But he slowly emerges into the argument on how colonists felt under the
The whiskey Rebellion Witten by Thomas P. Slaughter talks bout a rebellion that setup a precedent in American history. It gives us the opportunity to really comprehend this rebellion that thanks to fast action from the Federal government didn’t escalate to a more serious problem like civil war. The book the Whiskey Rebellion frontier of the epilogue to the American Revolution captures the importance and drama of the rebellion. The book is divided into three sections context, chronology and sequence. In the first section Slaughter explain the reason why the taxes was needed in the first place. According to Anthony Brandt in his article of American history name “Rye Whiskey, RYE Whiskey” Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the
This Rebellion was so significant because it was the first time in the American Colonies that the Frontiersmen joined in something as bold as this. It also became a very significant rebellion because it hastened
Zinn goes into detail how proletarian unrest, namely Shays’ Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion, caused unease amongst the wealthy. The solution, according to James Madison in Federalist #10, was a unifying Constitution. Madison believed that it would be easier to quell uprisings and dissent if the government was much larger; instead of unruly residents solely dealing with a state’s governing body, they would have to deal with the entire country (156).
The states, in which Shays rebellion has taken place, were becoming unjust/unfair the way in which the state collected taxes. Since the Articles of Confederation was a complete failure, the founding fathers had to draft the active construction and choose a new system of government. According to article 2 “The state government will retain all powers that are not specifically given to the national Congress.. ” (Williamsburg, 2009)
Daniel Shays’ was a hero for many reasons although many of the things he did would cause him not be considered a hero. They don’t include all of the good things that he had done for him and all of the poor farmers that were getting sent to debtor's prison. Daniel shays stud up for the poor and he took a stand against a poor government. He also showed the weakness of the The Articles of Confederation “that a loser wrote”(Mr.James words) .Another reason is that Daniel Shays’ is a hero is because that he was awarded a sword for his bravery on the battlefield.That is a couple reasons Daniel Shays’ is a hero.
Gordon Wood’s Radicalism of the American Revolution is a book that extensively covers the origin and ideas preceding the American Revolution. Wood’s account of the Revolution goes beyond the history and timeline of the war and offers a new encompassing look inside the social ideology and economic forces of the war. Wood explains in his book that America went through a two-stage progression to break away from the Monarchical rule of the English. He believes the pioneering revolutionaries were rooted in the belief of an American Republic. However, it was the radical acceptance of democracy that was the final step toward independence. The transformation between becoming a Republic, to ultimately becoming a democracy, is where Wood’s evaluation of the revolution differs from other historians. He contributes such a transformation to the social and economic factors that faced the colonists. While Gordon Wood creates a persuasive argument in his book, he does however neglect to consider other contributing factors of the revolution. It is these neglected factors that provide opportunity for criticism of his book.
Shay's Rebellion was the first armed uprising of the new nation. It was caused by the absence of debt relief legislation in Massachusetts. When the Revolution ended, merchants and creditors lobbied for high taxes and against paper money. They were successful. These procreditor polices underminded farmers' finances. The legislation, including foreclosure laws, were extremely taxing to farmers and caused many to go into great debt. Many farmers were dragged to court where they faced high legal fees and threats of imprisonment because of their debt. In 1786, farmers in Massachusetts attended extralegal meetings where they protested against high taxes and aggressive eastern creditors. Bands of angry farmers joined together to close law courts with force and freed debtors and fellow protesters from jail. Resistance to the legislation climbed to a full-scale revolt. John Adams, president at the time, answered with the Riot Act, which outlawed illegal assemblies. The rebellion was suppressed by military force. The rebellion prompted leaders with national perspective to redouble their efforts and create a stronger central government.
The person that was chosen to lead the rebellion was Daniel Shays. Shays, born in Hopkinton Massachusetts, grew up as a farmer before he fought for his country in the War for Independence. During the War he fought in such key battles as the Battle of Lexington, Bunker Hill and Saratoga.
In the Summer of 1787, fifty-five delegates representing 12 out of the 13 states in Philadelphia to fix the Articles of Confederation. They met in philadelphia because the Articles of Confederation was too weak. Shay’s rebellion was the end of the Articles of Confederation bringing down the whole network calling for a change of government. They did this to prevent a tyrant or tyranny. A tyrant/tyranny is when someone or a group abuses their power.
Another extremely important issue Washington faced was that of the Whiskey Rebellion. The whisky rebellion started when a tax was placed upon distilled liquor. The farmers of Pennsylvania completely infuriated at the taxed because Whisky was their most profitable product and their form of money. In 1794, they set up an armed uprising against the taxes. Alarmed by the attack, and following Hamilton’s advice, Washington sent over 12,000 troops into Pennsylvania for peace keeping. This was the first time a national militia was ever used in the new country. Washington’s decision proved to the people that Congress finally had th...
Many revolutions have taken place throughout history, ranging from the unremarkable to the truly memorable, such as the French Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution and the American Revolution. Through an examination of the social, cultural, economic and political causes of the American Revolution, an exploration of key arguments both for and against the American Revolution, and an analysis of the social, cultural, economic and political changes brought about by the American Revolution it can be demonstrated unequivocally that the American Revolution was indeed truly revolutionary.
Daniel Boone was born on October 22, 1734 and later died on September 26, 1820. He was an American pioneer and hunter whose frontier explorations made him one of the first heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the state of Kentucky. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements beyond the Appalachian Mountains.
The most lasting effect of this rebellion is best shown in Article 1, Section 8. In this section it states “The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States…”. This has Shays’s rebellion written all over it. Because of the unfair taxing against the farmers, they have written that all duties, imposts and excises will be equal for everyone. It also states “To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, . . . and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;”. This also address the issue of the farmers wanting paper money to increase the money
The American Revolution marked the divorce of the British Empire and its one of the most valued colonies. Behind the independence that America had fought so hard for, there emerged a diverging society that was eager to embrace new doctrines. The ideals in the revolution that motivated the people to fight for freedom continued to influence American society well beyond the colonial period. For example, the ideas borrowed from John Locke about the natural rights of man was extended in an unsuccessful effort to include women and slaves. The creation of state governments and the search for a national government were the first steps that Americans took to experiment with their own system. Expansion, postwar depression as well as the new distribution of land were all evidence that pointed to the gradual maturing of the economic system. Although America was fast on its way to becoming a strong and powerful nation, the underlying issues brought about by the Revolution remained an important part in the social, political and economical developments that in some instances contradicted revolutionary principles in the period from 1775-1800.