Danver Steven L. (Edited). Revolts, Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History: An Encyclopedia (ENG)
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all, the men who participated in Shays’ Rebellion were, just a few years prior , ardent
patriots, fighting the British for American independence. These were not rabble-
rousers or layabouts, as their opponents would have everyone believe. Many of the
men who fought in the New England Regulation were decorated war heroes and gen-
tlemen in their own right. In response to the public outcry for Shays’ Rebellion, new
laws were put in place to allow the debtor freedom if he pledged a pauper’s oath,
stating he had no means of repayment. This early form of bankruptcy allowed hun-
dreds of Massachusetts citizens to start over financially and freed them from the fear
of debtors’ prisons or forced servitude. Other laws passed in Massachusetts included
a new fee bill, which reduced court charges. Clothing, household goods, and tools of
trade were all exempt from the debt process. Taxes were also considerably lighter
under John Hancock, who voluntarily cut his own salary by 300 pounds.
Outside of New England, Shays’ Rebellion inspired other rural communities to
stand up against urban aggression. In Virginia, farmers boycotted sales of property.
The King William County Courthouse in Virginia was burned to the ground in
May 1787, destroying all legal records. In Maryland, the Charles County court-
house w as closed, and in South Carolina, the Camden County Courthouse was
closed, preventing any legal proceedings from taki ng place. Shays also brought
the country one giant st ep closer to revising the Articles of Confederati on and the
establi shmen t of t he consti tu tion . Befor e Shays’ Rebel li on, Congr ess lac ked the
power to intervene in state problems “to ensure domestic tranquility.” Article IV,
Section Four, which gave protection to the states, was inspired by the combined
threats of civil unrest and fears of s plitting the new Union. The article required
the g overnment to protect each state against the invasion of domestic abuse, and
establishing a stronger central government would provide more power to intervene
in domestic affairs.
The Shays movement and its repression had mobilized both Anti-Federalists
and Federalists. In the end, Federalists won the debate about the role of the central
government in state affairs, garnering Massachusetts support for the newly drafted
Constitution at the Philadelphia Convention in September 1787. The preamble of
the Constitution very clearly alludes to Shays’ Rebellion and the concern law-
makers felt over the insurgency. It is a r esult of the uprising in Massachusetts,
when social classes collided and the nation ’s newly established government was
put through its first stress test. Even Massachusetts, which had staunchly avoided
softening debt laws or taxation policies, gave its approval to the constitution. This
is important to note, because if Massachusetts had withheld its approval, it is very
likely that New York, Virginia, or any of the other states would have followed suit,
thus reducing the Constitution to a well-crafted dead letter, soon forgotten.
There is no question that Shays’ Rebellion was a class dispute. Unlike the Revo-
lution, in which all the classes joined together in one cause against the British, Shays
214 Shays’ Rebellion (1787)
represented the first crack in the ideology of democracy on which American
independence was based. Political leaders knew they had to act swiftly to end the
rebellion before general anarchy became the rule rather than the exception. Thanks
to Shays’ Rebellion, attendance at the Philadelphia Convention was high. George
Washington cited Shays’ Rebellion as the very reason he made the trip from Virginia
to the Convention. People in western and central Massachusetts were divided in their
feelings about the rebellion. On one hand, they had great sympathy for the men who
fought in Shays’ Rebellion. After all, these men were neighbors who were being
unfairly treated by the government. However, high taxes and debt collection did
not justify taking up arms against the government. What would become of the coun-
try if every person who was discontented decided to take matters into his own hands?
Many of the most influential men of the American Revolution sneered at Shays’
Rebellion. Samuel Adams, Revolutionary War leader and president of the Massa-
chusetts Senate, and the new Secretary of War Henry Knox both saw the rebellion
as one step closer to total anarchy. Adams declared that “Rebellion against a king
may be pardoned, or lightly punished, but the man who dares rebel against the laws
of a republic ought to suffer death.” Other lawmakers, such as Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison, viewed the insurrection as a gro wth opportunity for the new repub-
lic. A young Jefferson calmly wrote from his post in France that those who gov erned
were “[i]nattentive to public affairs.” He went on to say that “Congress and assem-
blies, judges and conventions, shall all become wolves. ...For I can apply no milder
term ...to the general prey of the rich on the poor.” James Madison believ ed that “a
little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. ...It is a medicine necessary for the
sound health of government.”
As for Daniel Shays, whose name has been committed to history for the rebel-
lion, following his pardon by Governor Hancock, he moved to upstate New York,
where he farmed unt il his death at the age of 84 in 1825. Today tourists can visit
the Springfield Amory in Springfield, Massachusetts, and see where the last battle
of the American Revolution was fought, and where the basis of the United States
Constitution was inspired.
—Lorri Brown
See also all entries under Whiskey Rebellion (1794).
Further Reading
Aptheker, Herbert. Early Years of the Republic. New York: International Publishers, 1976.
Beeman, Richard, Stephen Botein, and Edward C. Carter III. Beyond Confederation: Ori-
gins of the Constitution and American National Identity. Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 1987.
Shays’ Rebellion (1787) 215
Jensen, Merrill. The New Nation: A History of the United States during the Confederation
1781–1789. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1958.
Morris, Richard B. The Forging of the Union. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Morris, Richard B. Witness at the Creation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985.
St. John, Jeffery. Forge of Union, Anvil of Liberty. Ottawa: Jameson Books, Inc., 1992.
Ta ylor, Alan. Liberty Men and Great Propr ietors. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1990.
216 Shays’ Rebellion (1787)
Bowdoin, James (1726–1790)
The second governor of Massachusetts, James Bowdoin was born into a privileged
life as the son of a we althy merchant. A political and intellec tual leader b efore ,
during, and after the Revolution, James Bowdoin helped shaped the fledging
nation’s politics and played an integral part of ratifying the U.S. Constitution.
His term as governor coincided with the first economic crisis for the new republic.
James Bowdoin II was born on August 7, 1726, to James and Hannah (Portage)
Bowdoin. His grandfather, Pierre Boudouin, was a French Huguenot in exile follow-
ing the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Pierre Boudouin fled to Dublin, Ireland,
then on to Portland, Maine, and finally settling in Boston in 1690. Pierre accumulated
a small estate as a merchant and ship’s captain. James Bowdoin’s father built on his
father’s modest success and was one of the wealthiest merchants in Boston. James
Bowdoin attended the Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard in 1745.
When his father died in 1747, James inherited a large fortune. He had political aspira-
tions early in his career , being elected to the Massachusetts House of Representati v es
in 1753 and serving until 1756.
In 1785, James Bowdoin was elected governor of Massachusetts. His term was
marred by a deepening economic depression and unhappy citizens throughout the
state, due to high taxes and debt collections. When disgruntled farmers petitioned
Bowdoin and the rest of the legislature for some debt relief and a change in the tax
laws, Bowdoin remained unsympathetic. When the farmers banded together, under
the direction of Revolutionary veterans like Daniel Shays, and began shutting
down courthouses throughout western and central Massachusetts, Bowdoin took
action. He was, after all, a grandson and son of a merchant, and a merchant him-
self. He viewed the uprising by farmers as a direct threat to the newly established
government. Even when popular opinion called for compromise with the disgrun-
tled farmers, Bowdoin refused to budge in his position. Bowdoin believed that any
tampering with the courts would “frustrate the great end of government, the secu-
rity of life, liberty and property.”
Following the closing of the Springfield courthouse in September 1786,
Bowdoin helped form a special militia of 4,000 men, paid for by himself and his
merchant friends in Boston, since the state treasury could not afford it. In an effort
to end the rebellion peaceably, he enacted the Disqualifying Act, in which rebels
could take an oath of allegiance to the government and prevent them from holding
any type of public office or voting in elections for three years. When this failed,
Bowdoin persecuted the rebels, sentencing 11 of them t o death, despite public
cries for leniency. Undoubtedl y, the harshness with which he handled Shaysites
was a main cause for his losing the 1787 gubernatorial election to John Hancock.
217
James Bowdoin’s reaction to Shays’ Rebellion was not so much out of disdain
for the poor or farmers, but more about the preservation of liberty and the sanctity
of government. Despite his short term as governor, James Bowdoin remained
active in politics and Boston society for the rest of his life. He helped ratify the
U.S. Constitution. He was a founder and the first president of the American Acad-
emy of Arts and Sciences, even leaving his library to the foundation. He also
helped found the Massachusetts Humane Society. Bowdoin College in Maine
was named in his honor, by his son, James Bowdoin III.
—Lorri Brown
Further Reading
Aptheker, Herbert. Early Years of the Republic. New York: International Publishers, 1976.
Ta ylor, Alan. Liberty Men and Great Propr ietors. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1990.
Massachusetts General Court
During the post–Revolutionary War period, an uprising in western Massachusetts
known as Shays’ Rebellion brought national attention to the weaknesses of the
federal government. The rebellion also brought about big changes in the political
landscape of Massachu setts. The governing body of t he state, t he Massachuse t ts
General Court, had existed long before the United States won its independence
from Great Britain. Known as the Great and General Court in colonial days, during
the Revolution and the years immediately following, the Massachusetts General
Court played a crucial role in the shaping of the nations government and the ratifi-
cation of the U.S. Constitution.
Immediately following the end of the American Revolution, an economic depres-
sion settled over the country. Massachusetts farmers in particular felt
the pinch of the depression. As more and more farmers, many of whom had
fought in the Rev olution without any kind of compensation, lost their farms to unpaid
debts and soaring taxes, they petitioned Governor James Bowdoin and the Massachu-
setts Gen eral Court for some kind of assistance or debt relief. The Massachuse tts
General Court was made up largely of wealthy merchants and traders from the coastal
areas. They were completely unsympathetic to the plight of poor farmers and saw no
reason why those who loaned the money (merchants, like themselves) should have to
take a loss because those who borrowed could not repay their loans.
218 Shays’ Rebellion (1787)
Farmers in the western and central portions of the state decided to tak e action
against the government and what they viewed as unfair laws. They formed a group
known as the New England Regulation and marched peaceably on a courthouse in
Northampton, stopping foreclosure sales and preventing peo ple from going to
debtors ’ prison. The men who served on the Massachusetts General Cour t, along
with Governor Bowdoin, were outrag ed by thes e actions. A month later, a t the
Springfield courthouse, war veteran Daniel Shays led a force of 700 farmers to
stop the trials of 11 farmers who helped close the Northampton courthouse. Shays
negotiated with the militia to let them have the courthouse peacefully. Despite the
fact that the Shaysites, as the court called them, protested with little to no force
and had a great deal of popular support, the court’s attitu de could not be swayed.
Shays, the perceived ringleader of the group, became public enemy number one,
and those who supported him were branded traitors to the Union and charged with
treason.
Through the fall and winter of 17 86–1787, Shaysites shu t down courthouse
after courthouse, preventing any legal action from being taken again st fellow
farmers. Bowdoin and the Massachusetts General Court offered amnesty to those
who were willing to take an oath of allegiance to the state. Those who did use
the Disqualify Act, as it was called, were unable to vote or hold any type of public
office (including tavern keeper or schoolmaster) for three years. People in Massa-
chusetts saw the act as a way for Bowdoin and the rest of the court to keep power
out of the hands of dissenters. This attitude was reflected in the 1787 election,
when a third of the court was replaced by more moderate politicians.
Following Shays’ Rebellion, the Massachusetts General Court, under the guid-
ance of the new governor, John Hancock, reduced taxes and court fees and allowed
taxes to be paid in goods other than hard cash. They also helped push through the
newly drafted U.S. Constitution, ratifying it by a narrow margin of 187 to 168
votes. With the support of the state of Massachusetts, other states followed suit,
ratifying the Constitution and laying the foundation for the modern day
government.
—Lorri Brown
Further Reading
Aptheker, Herbert. Early Years of the Republic. New York: International Publishers, 1976.
Jensen, Merrill. The New Nation: A History of the United States during the Confederation
1781–1789. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1958.
Morris, Richard B. The Forging of the Union. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Morris, Richard B. Witness at the Creation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985.
St. John, Jeffery. Forge of Union, Anvil of Liberty. Ottawa: Jameson Books, Inc., 1992.
Shays’ Rebellion (1787) 219
Shays, Daniel (1747–1825)
A pivotal turning point in the early history of the United States was a small revolt
known as Shays’ Rebellion. Though the rebellion was short and virtua lly blood-
less, it brought attention to the weaknesses of the confederation and promoted law-
makers to draft a new constitution, strengthening the power of the federal
government. The man credited with leading the rebe llion, Daniel Shays, w as a
reluctant leader. A Revolutionary War veteran, his role in the “last battle of the
American Revolution” earned him a place in history.
Daniel Shays was born to Irish immigrants Patrick and Margaret (Dempsey)
Shays in 1747 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. He was the second of six children.
As a young man without land of his own, Shays spent h is early adult years hired
out as a farmhand. Shays married Abigail Gilbert in 1772. The couple settled in
Brookfield, Massachusetts, moving to Shutesbury between 1774 and 1775. When
the Ameri can Revolution broke out, Shays was an ardent patriot. Thanks to pre-
vious drilling instruction with the Brookfield militia, he entered the militia at Shu-
tesbury as a sergeant, soon bein g promoted to lieutenant. By 1777, he was
promoted to captain in the Fifth Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army.
Shays had a reputation as a strong, competent, and courageous officer. He fought
in several notable battles, including the battles of Lexington, Bunker Hill, and
Saratoga. At Stony Point in New York, Shays was commanded for heroics by Gen-
eral Lafayette and awarded a special sword fo r his services. He was promoted to
220 Shays’ Rebellion (1787)
Daniel Shays was one of the leaders of
an uprising of farmers in western
Massachusetts in 17861787. Shays'
Rebellion, as it was called, added
momentum to the drive for a stronger
central government that led to the
adoption of the U.S. Constitution. (North
Wind Picture Archives)
the rank of captain before being wounded in battle and retiring from the military in
1780. Upon returning to civilian life, he went back to his main occupation of farm-
ing in western Massachusetts, where he lived with his wife and children.
At the age of 39, following the Revolutionary War, Shays found himself in debt
and facing high taxes. Having received no compensation for his military serv ice,
he was brought before a court for unpaid debts. He was not alone; thousands of farm-
ers across central and western Massachusetts were in similar situations. The disgrun-
tled farmers gathered in places such as Conkey’s Tavern in Pelham, Massachusetts,
where t hey shared their unhappy situations. They petitioned the government for
help, but their pleas went unanswered. As more and more farmers were thrown into
debtors’ jail, veterans such as Shays saw the need for more decisive action.
In the autumn of 1786, Shays and his fellow veteran-farmers organized into
militia-like squads, known as the N ew England Regulation. The Regulators, as
they called themselves, began shutting down courthouses throughout western and
central Massachusetts, preventing foreclosure sales and imprisonment of debts.
Even though he always denied being the chief leader of the group, Shays’ name
became a battle cry for 9,000 me n. Opponents of S hays and his men referred to
the re bels as Shaysites. Th rough the fall and early winter of 1786–1787, Shays
led his men into peaceable protests at courthouses throughout the state. However,
when they decided to take over the Springfield Armory, to gather ammunition and
other provisions, they were fired upon by a special militia, waiting inside the
armory, killing four Shaysites . Shocked that they w ere actually fired on, S hays
and the other men broke rank and fled to surrounding towns. Shays headed to
Pelham before going o n to Vermont. The Shaysites were charged with treason,
and rewards were offered for their capture by Governor James Bowdoin.
Following a pardon by new Governor John Hancock in 1787, Shays was cleared
of any wrongdoing, t hough his name would always be linked with the rebellion.
HemovedtoupstateNewYork,wherehediedattheageof78in1825.Before
his death, Shays was granted a petition from the government for a pension for
the five years of war service he gave without pay.
—Lorri Brown
Further Reading
Aptheker, Herbert. Early Years of the Republic. New York: International Publishers, 1976.
Beeman, Richard, Stephen Botein, and Edward C. Carter III. Beyond Confederation: Ori-
gins of the Constitution and American National Identity. Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 1987.
Jensen, Merrill. The New Nation: A History of the United States during the Confederation
1781–1789. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1958.
Morris, Richard B. The Forging of the Union. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Morris, Richard B. Witness at the Creation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985.
Shays’ Rebellion (1787) 221
St. John, Jeffery. Forge of Union, Anvil of Liberty. Ottawa: Jameson Books, Inc., 1992.
Ta ylor, Alan. Liberty Men and Great Propr ietors. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1990.
Taxes
The United States was still in its infancy when its first real economic crisis hit, fol-
lowing the end of the Revolutionary Wa r. Brought on by a combination of high
taxes, inflation , and aggre ssive debt collection, the depression of the 1780s insti-
gated an uprising in western Massachusetts known as Shays’ Rebellion. This
rebellion became the United States’ first call at tax reform.
Politicians serving on the Massachusetts General Court consisted in large part of
the wealthy merchant and trading classes surrounding Boston. Many of these men
had lent money to the govern ment during t he Revolution. When t he government
could not pay back its debt, Congress petitioned the states to raise taxes. These same
men worked hard following the end of the war to resume trade with Europe, particu-
larly Great Britain, who was their most important trading partner.
Congress lacked the power to tax directly, so when it needed money to pay back
war loans, it turned to the states to raise the needed revenue. The Massachusetts
General Court was overly enthusiastic about raising taxes, since many of the legis-
lators h ad a direct interest in government repayment of loans. They levied the
heaviest tax in New England in 1785 of approximately one pound per poll, while
other states’ taxes were about a quarter of that amount. While other states modified
or abated tax collection altogether, the government of Massachusetts never shaped
their taxes to the economic reality of the time.
The taxes that the legislature passed hit farmers the hardest and coincided with
the depression brought on by lack of hard currency. Throughout western and cen-
tral Massachusetts, farmers were losing lands and property or being thrown into
debtors’ prison by the hundreds. Roughly a third of a farmer’s income in 1785 went
to pay taxes. That left precious little to feed, house, and maintain a family and farm.
Despite pleas for debt relief from farmers, the government continued to push high
taxes and support confiscation of property for failure to pay. They also ada mantly
refused to issue paper money, which the farmers requested, believing that paper
money would lead to massive inflation and further economic problems.
During the autumn and winter of 1786–1787, the government began to pass
some token tax reforms. In November 1786, they allowed all back taxes to be paid
with goods such as beef, pork, leather, iron, or whale oil, rather than with hard cur-
rency of gold or silver. But the act came too late to save many farmers from
222 Shays’ Rebellion (1787)
destitution. When John Hancock was elected governor in June 1787, ousting
merchant- friendly James Bowdoin, he reduced taxes and also reduced court fees,
which were a hinder to debt-ridden farmers.
The tax policies of Massachusetts at the time of Shays’ Rebellion helped bring
about a shift in b oth local and feder al government policies. At the l ocal level, a
powerful g roup of creditors lost government control to moderates. A t the fede ral
level, there was a movement to strengthen the power of the central government,
allowing it t o raise taxes, rather than delegating the task to states, which, in the
case of Massachusetts, provoked rebellion.
—Lorri Brown
Further Reading
Aptheker, Herbert. Early Years of the Republic. New York: International Publishers, 1976.
Jensen, Merrill. The New Nation: A History of the United States during the Confederation
1781–1789. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1958.
Morris, Richard B. The Forging of the Union. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Morris, Richard B. Witness at the Creation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985.
St. John, Jeffery. Forge of Union, Anvil of Liberty. Ottawa: Jameson Books, Inc., 1992.
An Address to the People of Hampshire County,
Massachusetts, Setting Forth the Causes of Shays’
Rebellion (1786)
In 1786, the newly independent United States fell into an economic depression a s businesses
failed, prices fell, and currency became scarce and unstable. With no power to levy or collect
taxes, the central government under the Articles of Confederation could do little to bring the sit-
uati on under control. In the autum n of 1786, Captain Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War vet-
eran, became one of the leaders of an insurrection of impoverished forme r solders and
farmers that erupted in western Massachusetts. Later known as Shay s’ Rebellion, the uprising
sought to end court foreclosures on farms and properti es whose owners could not afford to
pay their taxes. Declared traitors by the state, the rebels attacked the government arsenal in
Springfield, Massachusetts, but were defeated and dispersed by state militia forces. I n 1788,
all participants in Shays’ Rebellion were pardoned. The following document describes so me of
the rebels’ grie vanc es, many of which were later remed ied by the Massachusetts le gisl ature,
and protests against rumors that the insurrection had been instigated by the British.
Gentlemen,
We have thought proper to inform you of some of the principal causes of the late ris-
ings of the people, and also of their present movement, viz.
1st. The present expensive mode of collecting debts, which by reason of the great
scarcity of cash, will of necessity fill our gaols with unhappy debtor s; and thereby a
Shays’ Rebellion (1787) 223