Shays Rebellion Research Paper

Emanuela Torossian 7W 5/23/24 History Shays’ Rebellion.

Shays’ Rebellion, led by Daniel Shays, was an armed rebellion that took place from August of 1786 until early 1787, starting in Springfield, Massachusetts. Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran, was able to gather 1,500 farmers who all thought the same thing: taxes were too high and the government they had was unresponsive. By doing this, Shays was able to expose the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, which eventually led to many of the government’s leaders declaring that the Articles of Confederation were inadequate, as well as the ratification of the Constitution. Upon reading this, it will become evident that Shays’ rebellion exposed just how weak the government …show more content…
This is what led to Shays’ Rebellion. It is evident that there were many errors with the Articles of Confederation, and it was clear that it was time for a change. To know what happened because of Shays’ Rebellion, one must know the story of Shays’ Rebellion. In August of 1786, Shays gathered around 1,500 protestors. Shays and these protestors marched in Northampton, Massachusetts. Their goal was to prevent the country court from convening, and although they succeeded, Governor James Bowdoim did send out a proclamation, where he condemned the march. A few months later, on December 26, 1787, Shays and Luke Day, a friend of Shays who was also a veteran from the Continental Army, made an attempt to prevent the court from convening in Springfield next. Shays and Day gathered nearly 300 men, and together, they marched toward the courthouse. But what they didn’t know was that the local militia, under General William Shepard, waited for them. But nonetheless, the rebels were still able to get the judges to adjourn. Shepard withdrew his men to the Springfield Armory, but he and his militia continued to get stronger over the next few months. Then, less than a month later, Shays and his men decided to target the …show more content…
Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, criticizes Shays and his rebels. She thought that they were tearing down the foundations of the republic. Henry Lee, a member of Congress, said that they would not stop their work, no matter what, clearly referring to the ongoing rebellion. On February third, 1787, George Washington wrote a letter to Henry Lee, discussing the Shays Rebellion. In the letter, Washington says he, at the time, was not planning to go to the Constitutional Convention (although he did ultimately end up attending). He also states how “if three years ago any person had told me that at this day, I should see such a formidable rebellion against the laws & constitutions of our own making as now appears I should have thought him a bedlamite-a fit subject for a mad house.” Showing what disbelief he feels regarding the topic at hand. Clearly, many citizens had strong views on Shays’ rebellion. Many things came from Shays’ Rebellion. And while it is now clear that many had strong opinions on the rebellion, one might wonder what was actually done because of it. Well, for starters, since Shays did point out how weak the government was, the government decided that they

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