Compare And Contrast Whiskey Rebellion And Shays Rebellion

Shays Rebellion Shays’ Rebellion was the final nail in the coffin for the Articles of Confederation. It managed to serve as the catalyst for the Founding Fathers to recognize the necessity for change to a stronger and more centralized government. The rebellion highlighted several of the documents’ failings that ultimately were due to the weak and decentralized government that the Articles of Confederation established. One of the most influential events that strongly affected the US Constitution was Shays Rebellion. Shay’s Rebellion was a series of local protest in the Fall of 1786 to spring of 1787 that was led by American farmers. The farmers rebelled against the state because they were being dispossessed of their property due to local enforcement of tax collections. These farmers were hard working men mainly living in the state of Massachusetts, but were in debt due the state raising taxes and increasing the costs in the courts. The main leader of the rebellion was a Revolutionary War Veteran from Pelham named Daniel Shays (the rebellion was named after him). The protests started as non-violent, but quickly escalated after the state failed to address any of the petitions it had to help solve the farmers’ debts. By December 1786, James Bowdoin, the Massachusetts Governor, mobilized a force of 1,200 militiamen to fight against Shay and the rebels which was led by General Benjamin Lincoln, a former Continental Army General, and was funded by local merchants. Lincoln and his army anticipated the rebels next move, so they were waiting for the rebels at …show more content…
The Articles of Confederation required that for any act of Congress to pass, the votes need to come from at least nine of the thireteen