Post Revolutionary War Rebellions - Literature review Example

Post Revolutionary War Rebellions Shay’s Rebellion Shay’s Rebellion, d after the most prominent leader of the rebellion, broke out after the American Revolutionary War. The Rebellion was initiated in western Massachusetts between 1786 and 1787. Shay’s Rebellion was basically a rebellion called forth by the oppressed farmers of Western Massachusetts against the government and court for the increased taxes they had to pay despite the low prices of their crops. This Rebellion is named after Daniel Shay, a veteran of the revolutionary war who returned from the war to find that like most of the other farmers; he had also incurred a huge amount of debt in a short time. The farmers petitioned against the courts but the courts comprising of mostly wealthy merchants were unconcerned with the plight of the poor farmers. This unconcerned attitude of the wealthy merchants forced the farmers to rebel against the system and thus the rebellion took shape under the guidance of Daniel Shay and other leader such as Henry Gale, Luke Days, and Samuel Ely etc. While the rebellion ended with the execution of most of the rebels, the rebellion still made its mark on history. The government realized the impact of the need for a central government. Also this rebellion opened the eyes of many of the plight of the poor and their inability to demand any power in the system. In this paper, we will discuss how the disparity between the rich and the poor led to Shay’s rebellion and how Shay’s rebellion was similar to other rebellion because of the clash between the rich and the poor. We attempt to understand the rebellion by exploring disparity between the rich and the poor as a catalyst and cause of the rebellions. Causes of Shay’s Rebellion The primary cause of the rebellion was the disparity between the rich and the poor class. The poor class, consisting of the farmers was burdened by the increasing taxes. The rich class comprising of the merchants had more power over the government and the courts. They exercised this power to reduce their own taxes and put the bulk of the burden on the farmers. The farmers already poor and could not meet their own needs, let alone the increase in taxes. To pay their taxes, they had taken loans from the merchants whom they were unable to pay because the low prices of the crops and the economic condition of the country after the Revolutionary War. In order to fund the Revolutionary War, the government had taken debts from war investors residing in different country. Due to the depression that usually follows a war; the government was unable to repay the loan on a timely matter. American owed 5 million to Britain and who demanded hard currency in the form of gold and silver. To relieve these loans, the government increased the taxes of the public. Since the Congress at that time had no power over the taxes, they pressurized the states to increase the taxes. While the taxes increased for everyone, the farmers felt the biggest burden since their taxes were the highest and they already belonged to the poor class. This unfair debt collection forced the farmers to rebel against the system as their earning only fulfilled the needs of their families and they did not have anything left to pay taxes with. Inflation was also on the rise after the revolutionary war since each state had started the practice of creating their paper currency. ‘During the war with Great Britain, Congress and the 13 states (formerly colonies) flooded paper currency into the economy, in an effort to meet the need for suppliers for the army and the militia’ (Danver, 208). This rendered the paper currency as worthless and led to an increase in inflation which may have benefited the rich merchants but was felt hard by the poor farmers. The farmers in order to pay their loans took debts from the local merchants. Since the farmers earned only enough to support their families, the debt continued to increase while the taxes were also increasing at a steady rate. Most of the farmers were sent to debtors’ prison since they were unable to pay back the debts and the taxes. Even though most farmers had served in the war, the government provided them no compensation and benefits which added to the distress of the farmers. While this condition was apparent in most states across the United States, the prisons and authority in Massachusetts was perhaps the strictest. This was the reason that Shay’s rebellion began in Massachusetts and slowly spread to the adjoining areas (Wilentz, 56). The Rebellion Before the actual rebellion broke out, rivulets of the rebellion were felt as the farmers felt the difference in treatment between the rich and the poor. When the taxes increased and an increasing number of farmers were being sent to the debtors’ prison, the farmers of Massachusetts collectively petitioned to Governor Bowdin and the Council of Massachusetts. However, the council was made up of eastern merchants from the rich class who did not understand the situation of the farmers. The Council was unwilling to listen to the farmers and failed to promote their cause to the state government. Left with no choice, the farmers met at Conkey’s Traven in Pelham to voice the unfair treatment at the hands of the rich merchants. It was here that the farmers were able to form a collective voice under the guidance of figures such as Daniel Shay, Luke Days and Samuel Ely. These people were originally farmers who understood the plight of the poor farmers as they themselves were part of them. The debtors’ courts and the council, mostly consisting of merchants were planning ‘to seize the cattle of farmers who hadnt paid their debts, to take away their land, now full of grain and ready for harvest’ (Zinn, 84). Thus farmers arrived at the court to protest against the court proceeding and to ensure that the court was closed down. Luke Days led the march of 1500 desperate farmers to prevent the court from taking such action and the judges had to oblige given the number of farmers and the seemingly small army of sheriffs. Though, the Sheriff had tried to get the protection of the court from the militia but the militia supported the farmers and refused to help the sheriff. This is very similar to the Fries Rebellion that followed later in 1789, when the farmers revolted against federal authority against increased taxes. The Shay Rebellion is known to be the first rebellion that influenced later rebellions and Fries rebellion along with the Whiskey rebellion was one such rebellion. This continued on for days and Luke Days continued to act as the appointed leader. However, the farmers were disorganized and lack proper leadership, a fact pointed out by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. The local law enforcement agencies realized their chance and began indicting large number of farmers. The prosecution of the farmers brought the issue to the light of Shay who had friends among those indicted and since Shay felt the same problems, he took leadership of the cause. Shay joined in and formed an army of 700 armed farmers and marched them to the court and again the judges were forced to adjourn. The courts took strict action and created the Riot Act but the rebels were adamant that they would disperse only when the judges dispersed and continued to protest in front of the court. However, the rebels were unprepared for the harsh winter and were not prepared to handle the opposition they met from the rich merchants, the courts and even the state. In the end, most of the rebels were arrested and the rest fled from Massachusetts including Daniel Shay. The ones caught were prosecuted and hanged, despite Lincoln’s objection, in order to prevent other such rebellions from breaking out in the rest of the states. The Shay Rebellion is also comparable to the Fenian Rising in Ireland against British rule where a group of farmers revolted against the high British class who aimed to suppress their collective voice by closing down the Fenian newspaper, The Irish Republic. Consequences of the Rebellion Even when the rebellion ended in the prosecution of the rebels, it brought changes in the political system of US. The government realized that need for a strong central government that will be responsible for monitoring the economic conditions of the country. The supporters of a unified national government grew strong after the realized the impact of differing currencies and differing laws on the public. The need for a stronger national government was called for repeatedly in 1787 during the Federal Convention. This rebellion also raised the issue of private liberty in contrast with public liberty. Some believed that the rebellion was a favorable point for the public and the government because it opened up avenues where the public could express their concerns to the government. Public liberty was no longer feared as it was realized that public liberty gave chance to the poor to express their own private liberties such as revolting against the increased taxes and the resulting debts incurred. The rebellion brought changes basically in the mindset of the people. Perhaps the biggest impact of the rebellion was on the Constitution. Shay’s rebellion ‘acted as a catalyst, precipitating the decision to call a convention to meet Philadelphia in the summer of 1787’ (Gross, 161). We cannot gauge the impact of the rebellion on the Constitution but it forced the meeting to occur immediately and discuss the issue of a strong central government. Conclusion Shay’s rebellion is similar to many other rebellions in the sense that it captures the essence of the disparity between the rich and the poor class. The Whiskey Rebellion in 1791 for instance was called forth by the farmers who refused to pay the whiskey tax on the crops. The farmers belonging to the western counties of Pennsylvania revolted against the federal government for the excise tax levied on whiskey. This led to violent attacks of the farmers on the excise agents who came to collect the taxes. Both the Whiskey rebellion and the Shay rebellion have rebels in the poor class who find that their voice can only be heard through rebellions (Coakely, 28). The Shay Rebellion, along with the Whiskey, Fries and Fenian Rebellion allowed the poor to express their problems on a public platform. References Coakely, Robert W. The Role of Federal Military Forces in Domestic Disorders, 1789-1878. Pennsylvania: DIANE Publishing, 1996. Print Wilentz, Sean. The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2008. Print Danver, Steven Laurence. Revolts, protests, demonstrations, and rebellions in American history: an encyclopedia. California: ABC-CLIO, 2010. Print Gross, Robert A. In debt to Shays: the bicentennial of an agrarian rebellion. Massachusetts: Colonial Society of Massachusetts. 1993. Print Howard, Zinn. A People’s History of the United States, 1492- Present. Harper Collins, 2010. Print Read More