Question

13) What was Shay’s Rebellion and why was it important?

Answer 1

Shays’ Rebellion was a series of violent attacks on courthouses and other government properties in Massachusetts that began in 1786 and led to a full-blown military confrontation in 1787.

The rebels were mostly ex-Revolutionary War soldiers-turned farmers who opposed state economic policies causing poverty and property foreclosures. The rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a farmer and former soldier who fought at Bunker Hill and was one of several leaders of the insurrection.

Importance

• One point of significance was that Shays's rebellion showed clearly the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, leading to Convention to rewrite the Articles.
• At the time of Shays’ Rebellion, the newly formed United States was governed by the Articles of Confederation, a document that many in the country felt was too weak to effectively manage the fledgling nation.
• The specter of Shays’ Rebellion informed the debate over the framing of a new U.S. Constitution, providing fuel to Alexander Hamilton and other Federalists who advocated for a strong federal government and diminished states’ rights.
• Nationalists used the rebellion to heighten paranoia, and George Washington was convinced enough by their arguments to come out of retirement and take part in the Constitutional Convention, where he was elected the first president of the United States.
• Shays’ name was often mentioned in attacks by the Federalists against critics of the Constitution, who were referred to as “Shaysites.”
• When the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention began, many communities in Massachusetts that supported the rebellion sent delegates that had taken part in it. Of the 97 “Shaysite” towns sending delegates, only seven voted in favor of the Constitution.