Author: George Richards MinotPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
The history of the insurrections, in Massachusetts, in the year 1786, and the rebellion consequent thereon
Author: George Richards MinotPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
Shays's Rebellion
Author: Leonard L. RichardsPublisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812203194
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 215
Book Description
During the bitter winter of 1786-87, Daniel Shays, a modest farmer and Revolutionary War veteran, and his compatriot Luke Day led an unsuccessful armed rebellion against the state of Massachusetts. Their desperate struggle was fueled by the injustice of a regressive tax system and a conservative state government that seemed no better than British colonial rule. But despite the immediate failure of this local call-to-arms in the Massachusetts countryside, the event fundamentally altered the course of American history. Shays and his army of four thousand rebels so shocked the young nation's governing elite—even drawing the retired General George Washington back into the service of his country—that ultimately the Articles of Confederation were discarded in favor of a new constitution, the very document that has guided the nation for more than two hundred years, and brought closure to the American Revolution. The importance of Shays's Rebellion has never been fully appreciated, chiefly because Shays and his followers have always been viewed as a small group of poor farmers and debtors protesting local civil authority. In Shays's Rebellion: The American Revolution's Final Battle, Leonard Richards reveals that this perception is misleading, that the rebellion was much more widespread than previously thought, and that the participants and their supporters actually represented whole communities—the wealthy and the poor, the influential and the weak, even members of some of the best Massachusetts families. Through careful examination of contemporary records, including a long-neglected but invaluable list of the participants, Richards provides a clear picture of the insurgency, capturing the spirit of the rebellion, the reasons for the revolt, and its long-term impact on the participants, the state of Massachusetts, and the nation as a whole. Shays's Rebellion, though seemingly a local affair, was the revolution that gave rise to modern American democracy.
The History of the Insurrections, in Massachusetts, in the Year MDCCIXXXVI
Author: George Richards MinotPublisher:
ISBN: 9781522201885
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 194
Book Description
Hardcover reprint of the original 1788 edition - beautifully bound in brown cloth covers featuring titles stamped in gold, 8vo - 6x9. No adjustments have been made to the original text, giving readers the full antiquarian experience. For quality purposes, all text and images are printed as black and white. This item is printed on demand. Book Information: Minot, George Richards. The History Of The Insurrections, In Massachusetts, In The Year Mdcclxxxvi: And The Rebellion Consequent Thereon. Indiana: Repressed Publishing LLC, 2012. Original Publishing: Minot, George Richards. The History Of The Insurrections, In Massachusetts, In The Year Mdcclxxxvi: And The Rebellion Consequent Thereon, . Worcester, Massachusetts: Printed By Isaiah Thomas, 1788. Subject: Shays' Rebellion, 1786-1787
In Debt to Shays
Author: Robert A. GrossPublisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 9780813913544
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 444
Book Description
In Debt to Shays takes a fresh perspective on the rebellion by challenging existing understandings of late eighteenth-century America and restoring the rebellion to its historical context
Shays' Rebellion
Author: David P. SzatmaryPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
Shays' Rebellion is often dismissed in the history books as an isolated incident following the American Revolution. Sometimes, it's grudingly given credit for spurring the Constitution Convention. In this well-balanced book, David P. Szatmary devotes the time and study necessary to classify Shays' Rebellion as the historical watershed it truly is. Shays' Rebellion signified more than economically depressed New England farmers waging war on creditors; it marked the beginning of the end of the American subsistence farmer. This change in an accepted way of life was at least as painful as the birth of the new United States. Szatmary chronicles how international influences forced a change in how merchants, farmers and artisans interacted, and how the initial changes brought friction. The rebellion resulting from this friction in turn revealed how ineffective the Articles of Confederation were in dealing with a crisis that could destroy the country. Szatmary links the state's governments weakness to the Constitution by using newspaper and editorial accounts of the day to provide a well-rounded view of an overlooked milestone.
History Of The Insurrections In Massachusetts In The Year 1786 And Of The Rebellion Consequent There
Author: George Richards MinotPublisher: Da Capo Press, Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Shay's Rebellion, 1786-1787
Languages : en
Pages : 212
Book Description
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1810 Excerpt: ...calamities seemed inevitable. If insurrection was to stalk unopposed by authority, some consequences were shewn; and what, it was observed, would be the end of such events, was known only to him, who could open the volume, and read the pages of futurity. The good people of the Commonwealth were therefore conjured, by every thing valuable in life, to co-operate with government in every necessary exertion for restoring to the Commonwealth, that order, harmony and peace, upon which its happiness and character so much depended. The movements in raising the army, could not but inspire the insurgents with serious apprehensions; and they began upon a system of policy, which they for a long time continued, of petitioning the government on the one hand, without relaxing their military exertions to overcome it on the other. When they were at Worcester, they agreed upon a petition to the Governour and Conn cil, which was to be supported by as many towns as could be brought into the measure. This petition, which had been once sent, but miscarried, was again brought forward and presented. It contained, in substance, a request that the state prisoners might be liberated, and a general pardon again granted to all the insurgents; that the Courts of Common Pleas might be adjourned to the next election; and it then engaged for the peaceable conduct of the insurgents. The motive of petitioning was held up as arising not from the fear of death, or of any evils that might be placed in their way, but to prevent the cruelties and devastations of a civil war. But there did not appear any evidence that the person whose name was subscribed to this petition, was empowered to execute it, and it was dubious whether he himself signed it. Besides which, there was not a man present at the...
A Few Notes on the Shays Rebellion
Author: John NoblePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Shays' Rebellion, 1786-1787
Languages : en
Pages : 52
Book Description
Shays Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion
Author: Charles River Charles River EditorsPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781543276244
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 98
Book Description
*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts of the insurrections *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Even as the young United States successfully secured its independence, the new nation was beset by problems. The drafters of the Articles of Confederation had deliberately avoided giving the national legislature the power to tax, because Parliament had so abused that authority against the colonies, but this proved to be a severe limitation on the national government. Besides hampering the Continental Army, the inability of the national government to raise revenue made foreign policy difficult. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress was also completely unable to pay any of the debts it incurred to foreign powers during the Revolutionary War. Though allied powers had lent to the American government on favorable terms and no repayment was expected until the end of hostilities, the hope of ever paying national debts without a national government that could tax was slim. In particular, the prospect of the new nation defaulting on its loans from France led to the end of the Articles of Confederation. To top it all off, the Articles of Confederation also had no judiciary or executive branch. Therefore, laws passed by the Congress could not be enforced by the national government: the enforcement of laws was left to the mercy of the states. Likewise, there was no national judiciary to decide disputes over national law. The series of riots known collectively as Shays' Rebellion began during the earliest years of American independence and were led by men who were, by their very nature, rebels. Unlike most countries in the world, 18th century America was made up of people who believed in change, and who were willing to leave their homelands and strike out for the unknown to find it. The men who had just years earlier participated in the American Revolution were not afraid to break down a government they did not like; indeed, many of them reveled in it. When Massachusetts enacted laws that Shays and others didn't like, the rebels had no qualms about taking up arms, and while the rebellion was eventually put down, changes were made to prevent similar problems in the future. Out of this came peace, order, and more freedom. As Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton was looking for ways to shore up the young nation's finances and pay off the debts incurred by the Revolution. At the same time, he believed in strengthening the federal government vis-�-vis the states, which would eventually make him a leader of the Federalist party but also compel him to push for a tax on distillers of alcohol, many of whom took their excess corn and grain crops and produced liquors. Ironically, Hamilton came up with the idea of this tax to avoid more direct forms of taxation, and because he didn't think it would be difficult to collect. What Hamilton didn't consider was just how ubiquitous the production of whiskey and other liquors were on the frontier, where they were often used as a form of currency itself. In addition to being upset at this new tax, Westerners believed it was disproportionately aimed at them because Americans still residing on the East Coast weren't as reliant on the production of whiskey. In 1794, violence actually broke out, and with the tax opponents numbering in the thousands, President Washington himself felt compelled to raise a militia force and personally lead it to deal with the rebels, the only time an American president actually led soldiers in the field. Ultimately, no pitched battle took place once the militia was marched into western Pennsylvania, but dozens were arrested and tried for treason in the wake of the episode.
The Whiskey Rebellion
Author: Thomas P. SlaughterPublisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199923353
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
When President George Washington ordered an army of 13,000 men to march west in 1794 to crush a tax rebellion among frontier farmers, he established a range of precedents that continues to define federal authority over localities today. The "Whiskey Rebellion" marked the first large-scale resistance to a law of the U.S. government under the Constitution. This classic confrontation between champions of liberty and defenders of order was long considered the most significant event in the first quarter-century of the new nation. Thomas P. Slaughter recaptures the historical drama and significance of this violent episode in which frontier West and cosmopolitan East battled over the meaning of the American Revolution. The book not only offers the broadest and most comprehensive account of the Whiskey Rebellion ever written, taking into account the political, social and intellectual contexts of the time, but also challenges conventional understandings of the Revolutionary era.
Daniel Shays's Honorable Rebellion
Author: Daniel BullenPublisher:
ISBN: 9781594164170
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
On January 25, 1787, in Springfield, Massachusetts, militia Major General William Shepard ordered his cannon to fire grapeshot at a peaceful demonstration of 1,200 farmers approaching the federal arsenal. The shots killed four and wounded twenty, marking the climax of five months of civil disobedience in Massachusetts, where farmers challenged the state's authority to seize their farms for flagrantly unjust taxes. Government leaders and influential merchants painted these protests as a violent attempt to overthrow the state, in hopes of garnering support for strengthening the federal government in a Constitutional Convention. As a result, the protests have been hidden for more than two hundred years under the misleading title, "Shays's Rebellion, the armed uprising that led to the Constitution." But this widely accepted narrative is just a legend: the "rebellion" was almost entirely nonviolent, and retired Revolutionary War hero Daniel Shays was only one of many leaders. Daniel Shays's Honorable Rebellion: An American Story by Daniel Bullen tells the history of the crisis from the protesters' perspective. Through five months of nonviolent protests, the farmers kept courts throughout Massachusetts from hearing foreclosures, facing down threats from the government, which escalated to the point that Governor James Bowdoin ultimately sent an army to arrest them. Even so, the people won reforms in an electoral landslide. Thomas Jefferson called these protests an honorable rebellion, and hoped that Americans would never let twenty years pass without such a campaign, to rein in powerful interests. This riveting and meticulously researched narrative shows that Shays and his fellow protesters were hardly a dangerous rabble, but rather a proud people who banded together peaceably, risking their lives for justice in a quintessentially American story.