Short Essay #1: Shay’s Rebellion
Following the Treaty of Paris of 1783 that ended the American Revolution, America claimed its independence and the young nation started as a confederation under the Articles of Confederation. Because the Founding Fathers were afraid of a strong government, they founded a limited government under the articles that gave no power to tax or raise a militia. The event of Shay’s rebellion highlighted the weaknesses of the articles of confederation and led to the establishment of the United States Constitution.
The economy of the new country under the Articles of Confederation did not prosper. The individual states had their own currency and the interest on debt started to rise as the states levied their duties. This problem was most prominent in the western Massachusetts where many people lost their farms and …show more content…
Anger and tension began to build up within the farmers and Daniel Shays took the leadership position to resolve the imminent problems. Shays is a veteran of the American Revolution and a owner of a farm in western Massachusetts. When he returned from the war, he was welcomed with the unpaid loans that he needed to pay. Shays was not able to pay off his debt so his farm and house were foreclosed by the bank; his situation was similar to many of the other veterans of war. He organizes these people who were suffering from similar financial issues and together writes petitions to the state legislature for assistance. However, these letters are ignored and the mob has a mass revolt with weapons and declare the states are no different from the British tyrants. The mob gets the idea to revolt from Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence where it says that the people have a right to rebel against the government if problems arise. Shay and his followers used their mob power to stop court houses and stop declaring for money and demand that they be protected from these
Following the Treaty of Paris of 1783 that ended the American Revolution, America claimed its independence and the young nation started as a confederation under the Articles of Confederation. Because the Founding Fathers were afraid of a strong government, they founded a limited government under the articles that gave no power to tax or raise a militia. The event of Shay’s rebellion highlighted the weaknesses of the articles of confederation and led to the establishment of the United States Constitution.
The economy of the new country under the Articles of Confederation did not prosper. The individual states had their own currency and the interest on debt started to rise as the states levied their duties. This problem was most prominent in the western Massachusetts where many people lost their farms and …show more content…
Anger and tension began to build up within the farmers and Daniel Shays took the leadership position to resolve the imminent problems. Shays is a veteran of the American Revolution and a owner of a farm in western Massachusetts. When he returned from the war, he was welcomed with the unpaid loans that he needed to pay. Shays was not able to pay off his debt so his farm and house were foreclosed by the bank; his situation was similar to many of the other veterans of war. He organizes these people who were suffering from similar financial issues and together writes petitions to the state legislature for assistance. However, these letters are ignored and the mob has a mass revolt with weapons and declare the states are no different from the British tyrants. The mob gets the idea to revolt from Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence where it says that the people have a right to rebel against the government if problems arise. Shay and his followers used their mob power to stop court houses and stop declaring for money and demand that they be protected from these