Historical Background - Shays’ Rebellion

This is a multiple part assignment where you will read, answer questions and then give a short response.

The Revolutionary War ended in 1783. The soldiers who had fought were finally allowed to return home. With the war over, the United States now had to deal with the debt accumulated from the war. The treasury was empty, however, the soldiers of the Continental Army had not yet been paid for their service. Daniel Shays was one of those Continental soldiers. He had fought throughout the war, including the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of Saratoga. He was wounded in 1780, and traveled back home to Massachusetts. Once there, he found out that there were some new taxes on his land. Shays did not have the money to pay those taxes. He had never been paid for his military service, even though he had fought in the war for several years.

What problems did Daniel Shays face as the war ended?

The lack of reasonable pay had actually caused a mutiny among the troops while the war was occurring. Now, without money to grant the soldiers their full back pay, emergency steps were taken to provide some support to the soldiers. A loan made it possible for the government to give each soldier one month's pay in cash. Washington also allowed soldiers to keep their uniforms and any other equipment they had been issued, including their muskets. Soldiers also received government certificates that they could turn in for cash at a later date, though these “scrips” were practically worthless to those who needed cash immediately.

How did the government attempt to deal with the problem of soldier payment?

In Massachusetts, farmers and farmhands found that local merchants were requiring them to pay for any goods they purchased with actual currency - something that the former soldiers didn’t have. The merchants needed the money to pay back loans they had taken from European investors in the war. The veterans sold their certificates, muskets, and other possessions to support themselves and their families, but it wasn’t enough. Daniel Shays even sold a sword he had received from General Lafayette in 1780 to help pay his debts. The people within the rural communities of Massachusetts demanded that they receive tax relief, but it didn’t happen. Instead, by 1785, the state government raised taxes even higher to pay back the foreign debt Massachusetts had accumulated from the war. The people of the state sent many petitions to Boston asking for relief, but the government didn’t respond.

How did the tax issue develop into a deeper problem in Massachusetts?

Protests eventually organized into more direct action by August of 1786. The organizers called themselves Regulators, and over the course of the next few months, they began to show up on open courthouse dates to prevent the courthouses from opening. The protests the Regulators participated in were an attempt to prevent the courts from seizing farms to pay owed debt. These protests continued over the next few months, partially because there was no military or militia to stop them. The federal government had found it difficult to set up a military force because they didn’t have any funding. Daniel Shays and other leaders of the protests decided to take their protests further by taking over the armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, and using the weapons they acquired to arm a force. When Shays and his followers (numbering about 1,500) attempted to approach the armory on January 26th, 1787, they were shot at by the Massachusetts militia that had finally organized. Four Regulators were killed and twenty others were wounded. The rest of the rebels fled. General Benjamin Lincoln followed them with the state militia - even as snow fell - and by February 4th, most of the rebels had disbanded. Daniel Shays fled to Vermont and stayed in hiding for months for fear of being captured.

How did Daniel Shays and others decide to respond to the taxation issue?

The Massachusetts government passed the

Disqualification Act on February 16, 1787, almost two weeks after the standoff. The act attempted to deal with the 4,000 rebels who had decided to take up arms against the state government. The act pardoned any Regulators who came forward, turned in their weapons, and paid nine pence to take an oath of loyalty. A pardon was only granted to those who had merely participated in the rebellion, not the leaders. The 18 leaders of the rebellion were initially sentenced to death; however, most had their sentences overturned. Daniel Shays was eventually pardoned after returning from Vermont. He never admitted to contributing to any of the blood that had been shed. He saw himself as more of a negotiator who had tried his best to bring peace between the government and the Regulators. He was granted a small pension for his service in the Continental Army, lived out his years on a small parcel of land, and died relatively unknown.

What was the end result of the rebellion?

Discuss the above question using the evidence you collected today for the graphic organizer. Make sure to include at least 3 viewpoints in your answer (3 documents).

Was Daniel Shays fighting for the ideas of the Revolution, or was he a rebel fighting against the government?