Home › George Washington discusses Shays’ Rebellion and the upcoming Constitutional Convention, 1787 Show Period 3: 1754-1800« George Washington on the abolition of slavery, 1786 Two versions of the Preamble to the Constitution, 1787 » On January 25, 1787, Daniel Shays and his insurrectionists confronted a Massachusetts state militia force outside the Springfield armory. Shays’ Rebellion had begun in the summer of 1786, when Shays, a former Continental Army captain, and other western Massachusetts veterans and farmers formed an insurrection against the government for failing to address their economic grievances. Upon the confrontation at the Springfield armory, the state militia forced Shays and his followers to retreat to Worcester County, where they would be dispersed on February 4, leading to the end of the rebellion.On February 3, George Washington wrote to Henry Knox, conveying his thoughts on both the recent rebellion in Massachusetts and the Philadelphia Convention. Of Shays’ Rebellion, Washington wrote, “if three years ago any person had told me that at this day, I should see such a formidable rebellion against the laws & constitutions of our own making as now appears I should have thought him a bedlamite - a fit subject for a mad house.” He wrote that if the government “shrinks, or is unable to enforce its laws . . . anarchy & confusion must prevail.” Washington did not wish to attend the Philadelphia Convention because he doubted what might be accomplished. He admitted that “powers are wanting” in government but wondered how such powers would be derived. He commented on Knox’s plan for building a central national government, calling it “energetic, and I dare say, in every point of view is more desirable than the present one.” However, pressure from friends like Knox, associates, and fellow Virginians such as James Madison and Virginia Governor Edmund Randolph—as well as Washington’s intention to “do for the best, and to act with propriety”—led the future president to attend the convention. A full transcript is available.ExcerptThe moment is, indeed, important! – If government shrinks, or is unable to enforce its laws; fresh maneuvers will be displayed by the insurgents – anarchy & confusion must prevail – and every thing will be turned topsy turvey in that State; where it is not probable the mischiefs will terminate. In your letter of the 14th. you express a wish to know my intention respecting the Convention, proposed to be held at Philada, in May next. – In confidence I inform you, that it is not, at this time, my purpose to attend it. – When this matter was first moved in the Assembly of this State, some of the principal characters, of it wrote to me, requesting to be permitted to put my name in the delegation. – To this I objected – They again pressed, and I again refused; assigning among other reasons my having declined meeting the Society of the Cincinnati at that place, about the same time; & that I thought it would be disrespectful to that body (to whom I ow’d much) to be there on any other occasion. – Notwithstanding these intimations, my name was inserted in the Act; and an official [inserted: communication] thereof made by the Executive to me; to whom, at the same time [inserted: that] I expressed my sense of the confidence reposed in me, I declared, that as I saw no prospect of my attending, it was my wish that my name might not remain in the delegation, to the exclusion of another. – To this I have been requested, in emphatical terms, not to decide absolutely, as no inconvenience would result from the non-appointment of another, at least for sometime. – Thus the matter stands, which is the reason of my saying to you in confidence that at present I retain my first intention – not to go. « George Washington on the abolition of slavery, 1786 Two versions of the Preamble to the Constitution, 1787 » Written by: Bill of Rights InstituteBy the end of this section, you will:
Independence did not bring economic prosperity to many parts of the United States. Great Britain restricted U.S. trade with the Empire, especially the lucrative trade with the West Indies. As a result, imports of British goods remained strong while the export of American goods to Britain slumped. Continuing inflation made paper money virtually worthless. Meanwhile, taxes rose to pay off Revolutionary War debts and make up for the loss, at the end of the conflict, of foreign loans. New England, in particular, was suffering an economic depression. Merchants and shopkeepers in eastern Massachusetts demanded the payment of debts from hard-pressed western farmers, many of whom had overextended themselves during the relative prosperity of the war years. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts legislature raised taxes to pay the state’s wartime debt and meet the national Congress’s requisitions of taxes from the states. Farmers were burdened by high taxes and unable to pay their debts, especially mortgages. They were hauled before county courts, often losing their property and going to debtors’ prisons. In the summer of 1786, farmers in the western counties assembled to petition the Massachusetts legislature for relief. They asked that no taxes be collected for a year, that courts be closed so property could not be confiscated, and that a paper currency be issued to cause inflation, raising the price of farmers’ goods. Citizens from whom these farmers had borrowed money insisted, however, that contracts be honored. Critics called the farmers traitors and agents of the British, even though many were veterans of the Revolution. Some lenders, eager for the money farmers had promised to repay, insisted that debtors should be more industrious and live more frugally. Neither side provided an easy way to resolve the crisis. Leaders of the farmers’ movement called on the people to be Minutemen, ready at a moment’s notice to defend their liberty as they had during the war. They met in taverns, churches, and town meetings to plot their strategy. Beginning in late August, they armed themselves and converged on county courts, hoping to close them. They reasoned that if the courts could not meet, they could not lose their property. At the end of August, fifteen hundred angry farmers took up arms and seized the Northampton courthouse. On September 5, the judges tried to convene their court in Worcester, but three hundred bayonet-wielding farmers blocked their access. Over the next month, the rebels shut down courts in Worcester, Middlesex, Plymouth, and Berkshire Counties. In late September, a crowd of fifteen hundred led by Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays prevented the Massachusetts Supreme Court from meeting in Springfield. Where authorities called out the militia, its members were locals who either refused to muster against their neighbors and kinfolk or who joined them. This woodcut, from Bickerstaff’s Boston Almanack of 1787, depicts Daniel Shays, one of the leaders of the rebels who rose up against the Massachusetts government during 1786 to 1787. As a Revolutionary War veteran, Shays wears the uniform of officers of the Continental Army. Secretary of War Henry Knox asked Congress to send troops to quell the rebellion and protect the federal armory at Springfield, which stored seven thousand guns, bayonets, artillery, and gunpowder. Congress agreed, but little money and few recruits were forthcoming from the states. In October, Governor James Bowdoin called the Massachusetts legislature into session and warned that “wicked and artful men” were conspiring to “destroy all confidence in government.” The legislature provided some relief by suspending debt payments and property foreclosures for several months. However, it also passed several measures to deal with the crisis. The Militia Act made it punishable by court martial to join “any mutiny or sedition.” The Riot Act prohibited twelve or more armed persons from assembling and empowered sheriffs to beat, jail, and kill rioters and take their land. Finally, the ancient liberty of the writ of habeas corpus was suspended, authorizing the roundup and detention without bail of suspected traitors. The legislature offered a pardon to any insurgent who swore allegiance to the government. Most courts closed or recessed in October; the farmers went home to harvest their crops. Another round of troubles occurred in November and December, however, when courts in Worcester and Springfield were forcibly closed. The farmers continued their appeal to Revolutionary principles and protested the suspension of habeas corpus. In early January 1787, Governor Bowdoin authorized a force of more than four thousand men to be paid through privately raised funds. An army of nearly two thousand was eventually placed under a Revolutionary War general, Benjamin Lincoln, to secure “system and order” in the western Massachusetts countryside. Lincoln marched to Worcester to defend the courthouse, while a force of some twelve hundred local militia occupied the Springfield Armory to deny it to the rebels. For their assault on the armory, Shays and other insurgent leaders called on the farmers to “immediately assemble in arms to support and maintain not only their rights, but the lives and liberties of the people.” Guided by the Revolutionary principle that they had the right to overthrow and replace a distant and unresponsive regime, the insurgents announced their intention to smash the “tyrannical government in Massachusetts.” They controlled all the roads to Springfield, seized supplies going to the militia, and sent threatening ultimatums to the militia commander. Of course, Shays’ enemies also considered themselves to be Revolutionary War Patriots. Those in government considered their decision to increase taxes a necessary consequence of the need to pay for an expensive war. Others, who had agreed to loan money to the western farmers, viewed the repayment of debts as the upholding of the contracts that guaranteed their property rights. On January 25, the rebel army of almost two thousand advanced through four-foot snow drifts, urged on by Shays. When they launched a three-pronged assault on the arsenal, the defending artillery, “humanely wishing to frighten them to lay down their arms,” first fired over their heads. Yet the farmers kept coming. The militia fired grapeshot, killing four and wounding dozens. The farmers retreated, and the battle for the arsenal was over. Most of the insurgents dispersed and returned to their farms. Shays and other leaders fled to Vermont and New York to escape prosecution, although thirteen Shaysites were rounded up, tried for treason, and sentenced to death. The governor pardoned them. Daniel Shays eventually received a pardon as well. Shays’ Rebellion greatly influenced many to support revising the Articles of Confederation to strengthen the national government. Governments not strong enough to maintain order were too weak to protect liberty. James Madison thought the insurrection gave “new proofs of the necessity of such a vigor in the general government as will be able to restore health to the diseased part of the Federal body.” Review Questions1. Why did farmers in western Massachusetts begin to take up arms and march on courthouses in 1786?
2. Which of the following best describes the result of Shays’ Rebellion?
3. How was the perspective of Shays’ followers different from that of the Massachusetts government?
4. How did Shays’ Rebellion catalyze discussion about the national government?
5. Which of the following best explains the economic situation in post-Revolutionary War America?
6. Why wasn’t the federal government able to support Massachusetts in putting down Shays’ Rebellion?
Free Response Questions
AP Practice QuestionsReactions to Shays’ Rebellion
George Washington to David Humphreys, December 26, 1786
George Washington to James Madison, November 5, 1786 Refer to the excerpts provided.1. Which of the following best describes the influence of Shays’ Rebellion on the mindset of many U.S. political leaders such as George Washington?
2. Which of the following best explains why Shays’ Rebellion garnered national attention?
3. What did Washington mean by “the superstructure we have been seven years raising at the expence of much blood and treasure”?
George Washington to Henry Knox, February 3, 1787 Refer to the excerpt provided.4. The excerpt provided was most likely written in response to which of the following?
5. The excerpt provided most directly reflected a growing belief that
Articles of Confederation, 1781 Refer to the excerpt provided.6. Which of the following was the main intent of the second article of the Articles of Confederation?
7. Which of the following best describes the impact on Shays’ Rebellion of the central government under the Articles of Confederation?
Primary SourcesJefferson, Thomas. “Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 30 January 1787.”Founders Online, National Archives and Records Administration. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-11-02-0095 Madison, James. “James Madison to Edmund Pendleton. 24 February 1787.”Founders Online, National Archives and Records Administration. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-09-02-0151 Washington, George. “George Washington to David Humphreys, 26 Dec. 1786.” The Washington Papers. http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/george-washington-to-david-humphreys-26-dec-1786/ Washington, George. “George Washington to James Madison, 5 November 1786.”Founders Online, National Archives and Records Administration. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-09-02-0070 Suggested ResourcesCondon, Sean. Shays’s Rebellion: Authority and Distress in Post-Revolutionary America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015. Richard, Leonard L. Shays’ Rebellion: The American Revolution’s Final Battle. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002. Szatmary, David P. Shays’ Rebellion: The Making of an Agrarian Insurrection. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1980. How Shay's Rebellion led to the Constitutional Convention?The uprising was one of the major influences in the calling of a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The tax protest demonstrated that the federal government, under the Articles of Confederation, couldn't effectively put down an internal rebellion.
What are 3 reasons why Shays Rebellion started?
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