Name:___________________________________________________
Date:_____________
Shays’s Rebellion
Period:____________
Shays’s Rebellion (January 1787)
After the Revolutionary War, the United States was in a depression. A depression is a
period when economic activity slows and unemployment increases. The depression hit farmers
hard. Unable to sell their goods, they could not pay their taxes and debts. As a result, the
government took the farmers’ lands and throw them in jail. This treatment angered many
farmers. Some began to view the new government as just another form of a tyranny.
Anger began to increase in Massachusetts. In 1786, angry farmers led by former
Continental Army captain Daniel Shays, forced courts in the western part of the state to close.
They wanted to stop the government from taking land away.
The revolt continued to grow. In January 1787, Shays led a force of about 1,200 to the
weapons storehouse in Massachusetts. However, the state militia was ready. They order the
farmers to stop and began firing over their heads. The farmers did not stop. The militia fired
again, killing four farmers.
Shays and his followers fled and the uprising was over. Still, Shays’s Rebellion concerned
Americans. People began to worry whether or not the government could prevent violence or
handle conflict.
Directions: Answer the following questions below in COMPLETE sentences.
1. Why did Shays’s Rebellion force courts to close?
2. Why did the farmers in Massachusetts rebel in 1787?