Causes Of Shay's Rebellion

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Shay’s Rebellion George Rumberg Poland Seminary High School Mr. DiNunzio Advanced Placement United States History Period Two 10/17/13 Shay’s Rebellion Shay’s Rebellion was an uprising of small farmers and debtors, most of which were Revolutionary War veterans.1 The rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran and one of the main rebel leaders in the protest. Origins of this uprising stem to the mounting debt and depression due to the aftermath of the war.2 While the uprising was not a very violent one nor did it result in many casualties; it was however stubborn and exposed a glaring weakness in the government of the United States at that time.3 Daniel Shays, born in 1747 in Hopkinson,…show more content…
After being wounded in 1780 during battle, Shays retired from the military.6 Shays returned to his original occupation of farming in Massachusetts with his wife and children. After some time at home reintegrating to civilian life, Shays found himself in massive debt and facing extremely high taxes. Having received no money or compensation for his military service, Shay found himself in front of court for his unpaid taxes and debts. Shay was not alone with this predicament of high taxes and unpaid debts; thousands of farmers in eastern and western New England were in similar if not the same situations.7 When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, European partners to Massachusetts’ merchants would not allow them to extend credit from them, they demanded hard currency for goods. Due to the new demand for hard currency merchants were force to do the same to lower partners and their customers in the states interior. This caused problems because of the continent- wide shortage of such a hard currency. The governor at the time was John Hancock, he did not impose such demands on poor borrowers nor did he prosecute tax delinquents.8 The rural farming people like Daniel Shays had extreme trouble keeping up with this system and soon found themselves buried in debt and in court.9 This was due in part by the recently elected governor James Bowdoin. Bowdoin, unlike John Hancock his predecessor, began to implement a much heavier tax burden and stepped up…show more content…
This particular group called themselves regulators, similar to the movement in North Carolina in the late 1760s of the same name. Both groups sought to reform corrupt practices.11 Shays and Luke Day led a group of about 1200 regulators to the Springfield courthouse and were met by 800 militia men led by William Shepard. Although Shay decide not to attack the courthouse and instead exorcize in front of the courthouse, the court never convened. Shepard and his men eventually retreated. This angered and confused the Massachusetts elites to the point of funding a private militia to fight Shays and his
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