Shays' rebellion

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Shays' Rebellion ("Rebellion of Shays ") was an armed uprising of former soldiers from the American Revolutionary War and small farmers that took place in 1786 and 1787 in western Massachusetts . The insurgents, led by Daniel Shays , protested the high debts and taxes of small farmers (including many returned soldiers) and the resulting arrests and foreclosures .

causes

The debt problem that arose in the United States at the time led to

  • more and more small farmers had to sell their land at dumping prices,
  • was enforced more and more in their remaining property and
  • more and more people found themselves in custody .

In addition, according to the constitution of 1780, one had to have a high fortune in order to stand as a candidate, which prevented small farmers from taking this route. The uprising was sparked after the Massachusetts government met in 1786 but failed to respond to the demands and problems of the smallholders.

requirements

The demands of the initially peaceful protesters were that fiat money should be printed in order to be able to settle debts. The war investors, with whom the small farmers were often indebted, demanded the debt payments in gold and silver, which the farmers did not own and therefore had to leave their land (and thus their source of income) to the businessmen. Another effect would be that inflation would arise and thus the effective burden of their debts would decrease. This was e.g. This was done, for example, in Rhode Island to alleviate the problems of heavily indebted farmers. They also demanded that the Debtor Courts should not be staffed by appointment (by the government, which in turn primarily represented the interests of a financially strong minority), but by elections (by the people). They made their demands clear in a petition to parliament.

course

To prevent the foreclosures, the protesters occupied various courts. The militias, some of which sympathized with the protesters, did not intervene. The protests escalated when, in September 1786, around 700 smallholders led by Daniel Shays gathered in Springfield and forced the Massachusetts Supreme Court to adjourn its negotiations. The court had previously indicted several protesters and rumors said another indictment was due to begin that day. An army of 900 soldiers was waiting for the protesters around Daniel Shays. However, the protesters evaded the soldiers and several local residents joined the protest. The court adjourned. On the initiative of Samuel Adams , a law (" Riot Act ") was passed that allowed people to be arrested without a court judgment.

In the winter of 1786 there was open fighting between the government troops and the rebels, with the rebels mostly being outnumbered and armed. After several skirmishes, Shays and his men were defeated at Petersham, Massachusetts on February 2, 1787.

consequences

The uprising affected the Massachusetts state government. From now on, direct taxes were avoided, court costs were reduced, and devices such as tools that were used by craftsmen and farmers for their work were excluded from the debt procedure. Henry Knox feared that the insurgents might demand some of the country's prosperity as common property as a reward because of their struggle in the War of Independence . Also on the Constitution of the United States had Shays' Rebellion big impact. In the individual states, the opinion formed that a national constitution was necessary to defend the individual states from domestic and foreign acts of violence, and that a central government should have a standing army .

Thomas Jefferson , ambassador to France at the time, viewed the rebellion positively and wrote in a letter to James Madison: "a little rebellion here and then is a good thing".

Some of those arrested and accused were pardoned, while others were hanged. There was a lively political discussion about the punishment of the insurgents. General Benjamin Lincoln pleaded for mercy, while the later governor Samuel Adams called for the death penalty to be used.

literature

Non-fiction
Fiction

Web links

Commons : Shays' Rebellion  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Howard Zinn: A People's History of the United States , Harper Perennial, 2005, p. 91 ISBN 0-06-083865-5 .
  2. ↑ a b Howard Zinn: A People's History of the United States, Harper Perennial, 2005, pp. 93-94 ISBN 0-06-083865-5 .
  3. ↑ Foner, Eric. "Give Me Liberty! An American History." New York: WW Norton & Company, 2006. p. 219.
  4. ^ Howard Zinn: A People's History of the United States, Harper Perennial, 2005, p. 95 ISBN 0-06-083865-5 .