What Were the Causes of Shays Rebellion? Essay Example

As the American Revolutionary War ended the people looked forward to a period of prosperity that the newly won independence would usher in. Instead only three years later thousands of Massachusetts citizens banded together in an armed insurrection against the state government. This became the start of what is known as the Shays rebellion . The rebellion rose up in 1786 and it threatened to break the fragile peace pushing the disunited states into near civil war. This was essentially a dispute between the New England Farmers and the Merchants. Samuel Adams was fiercely opposed to the revolt against the republic and proclaimed the insurgent should be punished by death. Jefferson took a more liberal view but he was away in Europe at the time. (Szatmary 1980)

The clash was because after the war the merchants quickly re-established trading links with Europe and became extremely wealthy. Meanwhile the rural farmers who struggled home after the war were penniless and debt ridden. This created a bitter feeling between the two as it was felt all should prosper and not just one sector. It was the state who failed to address the plight of the farmers and failed to stop the closures on the mortgages. The state also started to imprison farmers who could not pay off their debts. In addition the wealthy Boston lawyers were charging excessive legal fees adding to the farmer’s burden. (Warren 1905)

The state governor ordered some 4,400 state troops to put down the insurrection. The insurgents quickly dispersed and eventually they were pardoned. It was this event that led up to the Massachusetts ratification of the US Constitution and removed Governor James Bowdoin from office. Farmer Daniel Shay who was the leader of the group fled into neighboring Vermont ( not a state at the time) and was also pardoned after Bowdoin was removed from office. When John Hancock became the new State Governor he calmed everything down and paved the way for the signing and endorsement of the constitution.

Works Cited

Szatmary, David P. Shays’ Rebellion: the making of an agrarian insurrection. Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 1980.

Warren, Joseph Parker. “The Confederation and the Shays Rebellion.” American Historical Review, 1905: 42-67.