Shays Rebellion Video Worksheet Name:

1. Who was considered the father of the country? _

2. What was America facing in the 1780s? _

3. The Articles of Confederation set up what weakness for the National Government? _

4. Daniel Shays was hoping to gain what by participating in the Revolutionary War? _

5. What did farmers do when the Revolution began and the demand for food grew? _

6. What could have happened if a farmer did not repay his debt? _

7. Shays believed that the local courts were helping who? _

8. If farmers lost their land, they also lost what right? _

9. How did eastern politicians react to the farmers protests in the west? _

1O.Shays and his men closed the courts in order to do what? _

1 1. What three acts did the government pass in response to the rebellion?1. _

2._----------------------3. _

12. Why couldn't the National Government help out in Massachusetts? _

13. What is Shays marching toward in Springfield Massachusetts? _

14. What was Shays planning to do if he got to Boston? _

15. How many hung for the rebellion? _

Part II

16. Washington left for Philadelphia in order to do what? _

17. What exposed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? _

18. What did the delegates do with the Articles of Confederation? _

19. What group wanted a stronger Federal Government? Who supported stronger state govts?

a.b.

20. Section 4 of Article 4 promised the states what? _

21. Those who were still fearful in Massachusetts called for the creation of what? --------

22. What did Shays finally receive from the government in his last year of life? _

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READING LIKE A HIS,'RIAN READiNGL~E'A~tS~~IAN

Shays' Rebellion Textbook Excerpt: The American Vision Thomas Jefferson on Shay.s' Rebellion. (Modified)

The property owners' fears seemed justified when a full-scale rebellion, known asShays' Rebellion, erupted in Massachusetts in 1786. The rebellion started whenthe government of Massachusetts decided to raise taxes instead of issuing papermoney to payoff its debts. The taxes fell most heavily on farmers, particularlypoor farmers in the western part of the state. As the recession grew worse,many found it impossible to pay their taxes as well as their mortgages and otherdebts. Those who could not pay often faced the loss of their farms.

Paris, November 13,1787

The British have so long hired their newspapers to repeat every formof lies about our being in anarchy, that the world has at lengthbelieved them, and we have believed them ourselves. Yet wheredoes this anarchy exist? Where did it ever exist, except in the singleinstance of Shays' rebellion? God forbid we should ever be 20 yearswithout such a rebellion.Angry at the legislature's indlfference to their plight, in late August 1786, farmers

in western MassachusettsTebelied. They closed. down severatcountycourthouses to prevent farm foreclosures, and then marched on the statesupreme court. At this point, Daniel Shays, aformer captain in the ContinentalArmy who was now a bankrupt farmer, emerged as one of the rebellion's leaders.

What country before ever existed without a rebellion? And whatcountry can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned fromtime to time thattheirpeople preserve the spirit of resistance? Let thepeople take arms. The remedy is to present them with the facts,pardon and ~ them.

In January 1787, Shays and about 1,200 tanners headed to a.statearsenalintending to seize weapons before marching on Boston. In response, thegovernor sent more than 4,000 volunteers under the command of GeneralBenjamin Lincoln to defend the arsenal. Before they arrived. Shays attacked,and the militia defending the arsenal opened fire. Four farmers died in thefighting. The rest scattered. The next day Lincoln's troops arrived and ended therebellion. The fears the. rebellion had raised, however, were harder to disperse.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the bloodof patriots and tyrants. ltis its natural manure. Our ConstitutionalConvention has [made too much of Shays' rebellion]: and in the spurof the moment [I worry they will over-react].

A Call for Change

People with greater income and soCial status tended to see the rebellion, as wellas inflation and an unstable currency, as signs that the republic itself was at risk.They feared that as state legislatures became more democratic and responsiveto poor people, they would weaken property rights and vote 10 take property fromthe wealthy. As General Henry Knox, a close aide to George Washington,concluded: "What is to afford our security against the violence of lawless men?Our government must be braced, changed, or altered to secure our lives andproperty."

VocabularyAnarchy: chaos; confusion and disorderRemedy: curePardon: forgivePacify: calm downManure: fertilizer

These concerns were an important reason why many people, inCludingmerchants. artisans, and creditors, began to argue for a. stronger centralgovernment, and several members of the Confederation Congress called on thestates to correct "such defects as may be discovered to exist" in the presentgovernment. The confederation's failure to deal with condilionsthat might lead torebellion, as well as the. problems with trade and diplomacy, only added fuel totheir argument.

Source: Thomas Jefferson was in France dufingS/Jays' Rebellion, but hewrote a letter to a friend about it.

Source: Excerpt from The American Vision, a high school U.S. History textbookpublished in 2003.

Snays' Rebellion Shays' Rebellion

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STANFORD HISTORY EDUCAilON GROUP

READJNG LIKE A I-US~:':RIAN

Guiding Questions: I\!ame _

Sourcing1. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Do you think

he wanted to see America form a strong central government? Why or whynot?

Contextualization2. According to Jefferson, have the colonies been peaceful or chaotic?

Support your answer with evidence from the document.

3. Jefferson thinks the people at the Constitutional Convention are over-reacting to Shays' Rebellion. What does he worry they might do as theywrite the new Constitution? (Note: this answer is not in the document; youneed to think).

Close Reading4. What does Jefferson mean when he says, "The tree of liberty must be

refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants?"

Corroboration5. How does this document challenge or expand the information you read in

the textbook?

Shays' Rebellion

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