Shays Rebellion: First American Civil
War
Pages
30-54
Sorry for lack of pictures... hard time finding ones that fit. :)
Why January 25, 1787?
-Constitution Sept. 1787
-Bill of Rights 1791
-Before constitution:
Articles of Confederation
-Had rebellion not
happened, Articles of
Conf. may have never
been abolished
-Tipped the balance
Daniel Shays
-Shadowy figure
-No portrait ever
-Born eastern Massachusetts
-Farm/laborer before American
Revolution
-Excellent soldier in Rev.
-Rose in ranks
-Pelham, Mass. home
-Hoped for military to be the
past post-Revolution
Idea of American Revolution
-Free colonists from oppressive
government
-Allow local communities and their
elected reps govern citizens
-Not so much...
Treaty of Paris 1783
-Survival depended on
barter of goods and
services
-Treaty of Paris 1783
-Ended American
Revolution
-Recognized U.S. as a
nation
-lost trading privileges as
a British colony
Effects of Treaty of Paris on
Farmers
-Farmers can't pay debts
-Farmers forced into debt
courts
-Articles of
Confederation lacked
power to regulate trade or
collect taxes
-P. 33 how Boston chose
to pay debts
-Went broke paying own
salary back
Farmer Response
-Petitioned to print more money,
lower taxes, make reforms
-Summer 1786 Hartford
Convention
-Adopted 21 articles for changes in
state government
-Farmers didn't want to destroy but
restore moral government
-Regulators- men who joined
together to fight off corrupted
sheriff's, lawyers, etc.
Samuel Adams
-Small rebellions break out
-Samuel Adams famously
says, "Rebellion against a
king may be pardoned, or
lightly punished, but the
man who dares to rebel
against the laws of a
republic ought to suffer
death"
-Difference in beliefs of
legacy of Revolution
Violence in Massachusetts
-Two different views of legacy of Revolution
--Farmers
--Those who opposed farmer rebellion
-Mass. responds to rebellion violently causing
increased anger from farmers
-Sept 20 1786 Shays led successful assault on
courthouse in Springfield, Mass.
-Gov. Bowdoin creates Boston banker funded
army
-Benjamin Lincoln
-William Shepard
-Angers farmers more...
January 25, 1787
-Shays see advantages of
taking Springfield Arsenal
-General Shepard finds out
-Shays divides into three
groups, upon deciding to
attack early... not all
groups hear.
-Shays men break ranks
-"Lost rebellion, won the
peace"
Strong Government Supporters
"Federalists"
-James Madison
-Patrick Henry holds
convention to resolved
issues with Articles of
Confederation
-Alexander Hamilton
-George Washington crucial
in getting the Constitutional
Convention going
George Washington
-Fought in American Revolution
-Retired from public eye
-Daniel Shays convinced him "not
literally"
-Views of the new convention
(1) at first thought it would
damage his reputation if he went
and the session failed to draft new
constitution
(2) Then he was worried about
how history would view his
actions if he failed to attend the
meeting
Constitutional Convention
-May 1787, six years after end of the Revolution, convention
starts to amend Confederation
Washington elected president of convention
-Federalists suggest Virginia Resolves
1. executive
2. judiciary
3. legislature
-Anti-Federalist proposal
-"Fear of government had shaped the creation of the Articles
of Confederation; fear of democracy defined the discussion
over the new constitution."
-Federalists: Washingtonians
-Anti-federalists: Shayites
-Passage uncertain until federalists propose "Bill of Rights"
Shays' Afterlife
-After rebellion Shays fled to Vermont
until receiving a pardon
-Died Sept. 29, 1825
-Shays as a symbol of protest
1. Civil War- southern states "states'
rights"
2. 19th Century- new generation of
farmers fought against "rulers" in east
3. Former President Reagan- modernday tax reforms
--These people shared with Shays a
faith in the "common man"