Leonard L. Richards, Shays' Rebellion: The American Revolution's Final Battle (2002) - Book Report/Review Example

Despite Shay’s effort to overthrow Britain’s power over America, it furthermore resulted to worse political conditions for the Americans. This is because of the fact that it triggered the elite group governing them at that time to be more estranged, calling for a new constitution, discarding the Articles of Confederation which has been protecting the country for many years and putting a stop to the American Revolution. In “Shay’s Rebellion: The American Revolution’s Final Battle” by Leonard Richards, he corrects and opens the perception of people on the fact that the revolution Shay started actually created a huge impact that makes American society what it is today and was key to American freedom.

One point he made would be that of the fact that the communities who were one with Shay to overpower the British did not only consist of a minority from Massachusetts instead, was a group well represented - consisting of the rich and poor (Richards, L., 2002). This point he made was indeed very crucial to the fact that Shay’s actions were not put to waste. . Aside from that, I find the book interesting as Leonard Richard is able to point out the whole reason of the insurgence led by Shay. A lot of people would believe or so they are told that it was about the unconstitutional politics that was happening at that time because of King George, a British King.

However, the reality he presented is that the revolution was sparked by farmers against Boston itself, as poor farmers like them were being ignored while the latter was only acting to fit the interest of a chosen few (Causes & Results of the American Revolution, n.d.). The veracity of this claim for me is a truth behind the revolution because it was what Boston was doing, where until today there are still some grievance from people of the masses that would attest to this. Indeed, Shay’s rebellion was spurred because of the greed of Boston merchants above anything else.

It was not really because of the farmer’s economic lack that led them to start a revolt instead, it was more of a political thing. According to Leonard Richard, though debt was a factor, it was really the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution which was characterized by partiality and unreasonable legislature that led rebels composed of poor families and communities to step up from their lawless ruling. With all these said, I would say that Shay’s revolt, though weak, should be credited as one factor that granted America’s freedom today.

Today, the American Revolution has shaped American society immensely. It did not only free the American people from the slavery from Britain but actually inculcated the values and attitude of the revolution deep inside every American. Some of which would be American’s strong views of natural rights and political authority (Revolution and the New Nation,