In early American history there are 3 important rebellions to analyze. These revolts can give a crucial look into the brains of the population and what made the people finally say enough is enough. The first notable rebellion to occur in American history was Bacon’s Rebellion. This uprising began in 1676 in colonial Virginia. There was two different factions involved in this event. The Backcountry was a group of yeoman farmers who had small farms that were good for subsistence farming and a small amount of trade. They inhabited the western coast of Virginia and had to deal with the Native American tribes, as well as the horrible farming land that had been given to them. A good proportion of these men were indentured servants who had just completed …show more content…
Alexander Hamilton had been given the job as Secretary of the Treasury by President George Washington. Hamilton was now in charge of fixing the United States economy which was still looking to pay off debts. In an attempt to gain the vote to get his legislation passed, he wanted to assume the debt of both the State and Federal government. With this new plan would come the raising of taxes on the common person and the dreaded excise tax on whiskey would spark riots. In western Pennsylvania whiskey was the cash crop of many yeoman farmers. In order to cut down on wasting food, the farmers of the backcountry would take the extra corn that they raised and would distill it into whiskey. The process of distilling also helped when transporting goods. Despite Hamilton’s stubbornness to enforce the law, riots quickly broke out along the frontier. The farmers began to refuse excise officers any payment and even went as far as burning down the properties of those that complied with the officers and payed the tax. Tensions started to peak when 500 militiamen near Pittsburgh marched on an unpopular collector John Neville. This specific event left two killed and six injured. A couple of months later President Washington ordered 12,000 men to march on the rebels in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland to finally end the outburst. He offered amnesty to anyone who pledged their support to the government and jail time to anyone who did not accept. In his proclamation to the people he writes “...do hereby command all persons, being insurgents, as aforesaid, and all others whom it may concern, on or before the 1st day of September next to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes.”(Washington 67). Ultimately only two of the whiskey rebels were convicted and then pardoned by the President. The Whiskey Rebellion had finally come to an end. (Murrin, Hamalainen, Johnson,
Bacon’s Rebellion, King Phillip’s War and the Pequot War were similar in that there were conflicts with Natives over land, however they differed in the ways the wars were carried out and the results of the wars. Bacon’s rebellion was a result of the poorer classes moving west to cultivate land, however they encountered natives and the governor refused to protect them. Likewise the Pequot war was a direct effect of puritans moving westward, additionally all three wars resulted in the colonists as victors. During King Phillip’s war the natives destroyed a fifth of the towns in Masseuses and Rhode Island in contrast to the other wars where the natives did not cause as much damage to the colonists. Bacon’s Rebellion was significant because afterwards
Many Americans tried to return to their old lives after the Revolutionary War. It was easy for some, but it was difficult or near impossible for the others. Many farmers had a hard time reverting to their post-revolutionary ways and ordeals, and this proved challenging. Suffering from high debt, farmers in central Massachusetts and western Massachusetts tried to start over and build new lives. The government, on the other hand, did nothing to assist Americans who were trying to return to their lives from the brutality of war. Farmers were put were imprisoned by law enforcement for lack of paying off their debts. All of these issues caused a small rebellion which grew into one of the largest armed rebellions after the Revolutionary War. The leader of the Rebellion, Daniel Shays, later called his band of angry farmers Shays’ Rebellion. Shays’ Rebellion was a poorly planned and unnecessary revolt hurting the cause it meant to help.
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
In the Chesapeake region, Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676 led to major changes. This rebellion involved indentured servants revolting against the system, which put an end to indentured servitude and nearly annihilated the city of Jamestown. The servants believed their natural rights had been violated, so they rose up in revolution. As landowners began to fear mutinous servants, the plantation system expanded significantly. This relied heavily on the use of slaves from Africa, and greatly sped up the production of cash crops in the region.
Before the American Revolution, there were social and economic changes which upset frontiersmen. They became agitated due to their social situation with Indians and their failing local government. In response to these annoyances, frontiersmen chose to use violence to achieve their demands. During this period of civil unrest, two attempted revolutions in particular made national headlines: The March of the Paxton Boys and The Regulator Movement. The movements differed because the Paxton Boys demanded social change while the Regulator Movement called for economic change. Both revolutions were similar because they used violence as a way to achieve their demands. The Paxton Boys rallied around the concept of retaliation against Indians; The
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 most important issue prompting Americans to rebel in 1776 is clearly parliamentary taxation. The first time a Parliamentary imposed tax threatened the livelihood of the colonies was in 1733 with the Molasses Act, stemmed from the loss of profit for the British West Indies under the Navigation Act. However, this act was avoidable and rarely paid. Following the long and harrowing French and Indian War, Britain was deep in debt and George Grenville was appointed British Chancellor. He was determined to pay off the debt by brutally taxing the colonies. He not only reinforced the ignored Navigation Acts, but he placed the new Sugar Act which was similar to the Molasses Act which put a tax on rum and molasses imported from West Indies, but this Act would be enforced. Needless to say, the colonists were not used to this intrusion of Parliament and felt that it was wrong because there were no members in Parliament to represent the colonies. They felt it was a direct violation of their civil liberties and the first whiff of resentment was beginning to spawn. Next was the Currency Act which disregarded the colonies paper money, forcing the colonist to pay in only silver and sending their economy into chaos. Perhaps the most important and controversial acts were the Stamps Acts that placed a tax on legal documents, almanacs, newspaper, pamphlets, playing cards and dice.
Nathaniel Bacon and William Berkley, the governor of Pennsylvania had many differences that stopped them from getting along one of them was their opinion on the Indians in Pennsylvania. Bacon started the rebellion because Berkley did things with out consulting Bacon, which undermined his military authority. It caused King Charles II to send 1,100 troops to Virginia and appoint a commission to determine its causes. The British rule had to get involved and put it in stricter rules, which made it harder for people to get power. Bacons Rebellion promoted people to fight for what they believe in despite its view as non-democratic. Bacons rebellion was seen as putting down democracy because it looked like a quicker way to get to slavery even though it was looked at this way it was the first of many revolutions against the government so it could be seen as a starting point of the American Revolution. Bacons Rebellion showed what seemed to be a separation from English rule.
...able behavior far different from that of rebellion.” The colonists held their tongues as long as they could, but in 1676, their frustration grew too strong. Bacon and a thousand Virginians rebelled and overthrew the governor, in what is known as Bacon’s Rebellion. Shortly after the rebellion, Bacon died, and Governor Berkeley returned and viciously crushed the brigands.
...owners holding too much political and economic power, as personified by Governor Berkeley. Thus the landless, freed indentured servants revolted in 1676 in Bacon's Rebellion, as is stated in Bacon's Manifesto symbolizing the conflict in Virginia between its aristocratic and poor inhabitants of the back county over the aristocracy's concentration of power and refusal to help those living in the frontier.
The American Revolution was sparked by a myriad of causes. These causes in themselves could not have sparked such a massive rebellion in the nation, but as the problems of the colonies cumulated, their collective impact spilt over and the American Revolution ensued. Many say that this war could have been easily avoided and was poorly handled by both sides, British and American; but as one will see, the frame of thought of the colonists was poorly suited to accept British measures which sought to “overstep” it’s power in the Americas. Because of this mindset, colonists developed a deep resentment of British rule and policies; and as events culminated, there was no means to avoid revolution and no way to turn back.
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.
The American citizens took matters into their own hands and decided to rebel. Although the rebellion against the leaders of the U.S. was nationwide, most of it started on college campuses. One of the first groups known to take a stand was a group of college students that joined forces. They called themselves the Students for a Democratic Society. This group contributed greatly to the expansion of the movement...
The first amendment reserves Americans the right to have freedom of speech and but it explicitly states peaceful protest . The frontiersmen were anything but peaceful, the destroyed property and notoriously tarred and feathered tax collectors. The last straw for President Washing was when the rebels attacked his newly appointed collector John Neville and burned his home to the ground. He then publicly proclaimed on the 25th of September 1794 on the cover of the Connecticut Newspaper “Those, therefore, who preach doctrines, or set examples, which undermine or subvert the authority of the laws, lead us from freedom to slavery; they incapacitate us for a government of laws and consequently prepare the way for one of force, for mankind must have government of one sort or another.” Washington gathered a militia of 13,000 men with Secretary Hamilton at his side he rode into Pittsburgh, the rebels dispersed and Washington chose to grant the majority of them amnesty. This was a good call for Washington because he realized the nation was at political crossroads and he could have caused more political division between the anti-Federalists and the
James D. Rice’s Tales From a Revolution is perhaps one of the most important works on early Colonial America. This concise and informative narrative focuses on an important event in American History that has simply been overlooked by many Americans and historians, Bacon’s Rebellion, which occurred in 1676. This revolt played a significant role in the course of history at a pivotal time in early America. Rice focuses on much more than the actual revolt, giving a very vivid and easy to comprehend overview of the occurrences that took place before, during, and after this climactic and transformative event in history that would be one of the first of many rebellions and revolutions that would gradually pave the way for the foundation of America.