Shay’s Rebellion Research
Instructions: On the Web site: http://shaysrebellion.stcc.edu/index.html, you’re going
to find a lot of great information about Shay’s Rebellion. Use the information from the
site to answer the questions below. Please go in order as the parts on this sheet go
from most important to least (in other words, if you don’t get to the last stuff because
you were focused on the first stuff, that’s fine).
Historic Scenes:
First click on each of the six scenes and read the “Overview” tab on each page. This
will give you the foundational information about Shay’s Rebellion. Then, answer
these questions:
1. Summarize in 2-4 sentences what actually happened.
2. Why did the rebellion take place?
Timeline:
The timeline is set up in three sections, the top part is all about events that took
place relating to Shay’s Rebellion. The middle part is all about events taking place in
the U.S. and New England. The bottom part is the rest of the world. Please only focus
on the events from 1774-1789, and then answer these questions:
3. What do you notice about the events in the top row that occur before 1784?
4. What were the Riot and Miliita Acts? (click on the link)
Themes & Essays:
This page has several links about different essays relating to the important themes
of Shays Rebellion. The links that have an asterisk (*) are not completed. With your
partner, read one link from the first row and one link from the last row (each row is
a different theme of the rebellion), and answer the following questions:
5. What do these links tell you about the life of the Americans during the
timeframe?
6. What do you think was the biggest challenge faced by Americans during the
timeframe?
Maps:
Take a look at the last two map links on this page and then answer the following
questions (1 sentence/bullet for each question is fine)
7. What do these maps tell you about what was happening in Massachusetts as
a whole during the rebellion?
8. What do these maps tell you about the actual fighting?
Everything else:
Briefly take a look at the rest of the information on the site. I just want you to skim
it, don’t go in depth too much!
9. What else have you learned about Shay’s Rebellion?
10. How do you think a strong national government (unlike what was in the
Articles of Confederation) would have helped prevent something like Shay’s
Rebellion? (answer on a separate sheet of paper if necessary)