The Articles Of Confederation And Shays Rebellion

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The famous first words of the Constitution are “We the People.” The founding fathers, including Federalist Hamilton and anti-federalist Jefferson, all recognized that a Constitution is meant to serve its people above all else. This is why the Articles of Confederation had given states so much power. However, Shays’ Rebellion showed that serving the people did not simply mean empowering states. “We the People,” is a statement that people must come together as Americans and care about the interests of everyone. Being willing to sacrifice more ultimately benefits everyone. Daniel Shays deserves credit for creating the Constitution because he fought for reforming government to have the capital and authority to do more for disenfranchised Americans. Shays’ Rebellion exacerbated the need for national unity and strength. The rationale against crediting Daniel Shays is that it would be similar to crediting King George III for writing the Declaration of Independence, or General Sherman credit for Reconstruction, or Industrial Revolution magnates laurels for child labor laws. Crediting him for creating the constitution opens a Pandora’s Box because it would suggest various people should be credited for something which they did not directly create. But although he galvanized government reform as these other historical figures have, he is not their equivalent. The Constitution did not simply give Congress the power to more effectively put out rebellions, it also gave Congress powers to do things which would appease disenfranchised Americans and prevent rebellions from arising in the first place. Enumerating the failures of the Articles of Confederation offers more context which shows that Shays’ rebellion was a product of these failures as well as a driving force to deal with these problems by drastically changing the structure of government. …show more content…
Congress was feeble in comparison to the states and did not even have the authority to levy taxes upon states. It could not raise the capital to pay wages to veterans who were languishing in debtor’s prison because the war had left them jobless. Congress’ inability to regulate trade was detrimental on many fronts. Foreign nations distrusted America as a trading partner because of Congress’ inability to enforce trade agreements. State governments would tax interstate trade, which would bleed money out of the economy and worsen the financial situations of many Americans. The structure of the Articles made decisions which would increase efficiency or resolve conflicts exceedingly time consuming, which made the government more sluggish in combating rebellions and various other problems. Although it is evident that Shays caused America to finally address its crippling civic disunity, detractors would argue that Shays was a violent anarchist who lacks the sophistication and moral integrity to be recognized for shaping the Constitution. it is essential to point out that characterizing Daniel Shays as a bloodthirsty, ignorant traitor is either disingenuous or simplistic. General Rufus Putnam, in correspondence to Massachusetts Governor Bowdoin, said that Shays described himself as a peacemaker who tried to avoid bloodshed. And in correspondence to General Shepard, Shays wrote he was “unwilling to be any way accessary to the shedding of blood, and greatly desirous of restoring peace and harmony to this convulsed Commonwealth." Although the conflict did turn deadly, Shays was not merely an anarchist. While he realized the grim truth that

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