Shays' Rebellion: Revolt Against the Revolution

The American Battlefield Trust preserves America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educates the public about what happened there and why it matters. We permanently protect these battlefields for future generations as a lasting and tangible memorial to the brave soldiers who fought in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.

[Autobotmatt]

It also forced America to rethink the articles of confederation and create our modern constitution

[davidwilliam]

Sounds like a recurring theme for Massachusetts. Can't say it's any better today.

[BigE]

why is the music in this so good???!!?!?!?!?

[PrinceChaloner]

Sadly my 4th great grandfather's cousin took part of that battle. His name was John Chaloner and he was a sergeant in the Massachusetts militia. He was standing between two cannons and when the right cannon went off he thought the left cannon went off so he thrust his sponge into the loaded barrel which was just being fired. His arms were blown off and his other injuries included the loss of his eyesight..

[terryeustice]

A great narrative. Thank you for sharing!

[jjwwqq]

Taxes. It’s always taxes. So many different taxes, always the hunger for more taxation. And these same people say that it is “greed” when people fight to keep their money.

[AbolitionistFrigate]

This feels a little too simplified. The issue was not taxation itself but the means of taxation - Massachusetts required payment in either state-issued notes that were not widely in circulation or in hard currency. This was an onerous burden for farmers and rural communities with limited access to the market. It's unfair to characterize this as a simple rebuke of high taxation - it was bad and arbitrary policy by the state government that triggered the conflict.

[MAD]

I wish there was a bit more on the tail end. How did this young nation change after shay’s rebellion?

[MichaelMantion]

COMPLETELY inaccurate. The soldiers weren't given pay they were given state currency IOU. The state didn't have gold and silver to pay the soldiers so they put outrageous taxes on working class like farmers. The farmers could NOT use state currency to pay off state debts. the state currency were being sold for about 1-5% of the face value. Wealthy speculators bought the worthless paper so the working class could pay debt and maybe eat. Those wealthy speculators paid to murder and stop shay's men. Shay was charged and jailed but was only released after elections replaced the current corrupt politicians. The speculators were paid the full face value by the state with the gold and silver they extracted from the working class. Shay's rebellion was the working class standing up to the violence the elite and corrupt.