Shays' Rebellion
1
Shays' Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion
Contemporary unflattering depiction of Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck, two of the main protest leaders
Date
Location
August 1786 – June 1787
Massachusetts, United States
Causes
Economic depression
Aggressive tax and debt collection
State fiscal policy
Goals
Reform of state government, later its overthrow
Characteristics Direct action to close courts; then military organization
Result
Rebellion crushed, and problems linked to the Articles of Confederation spur consideration of a new constitution.
Parties to the civil conflict
Rural anti-government protestors
State and privately funded militia
Lead figures
Daniel Shays
Luke Day
Eli Parsons
Job Shattuck
James Bowdoin
Benjamin Lincoln
William Shepard
Number
4,000+ (largest force 1,500)
4,000+ (largest force 3,000)
Casualties
5 killed
dozens wounded
many arrested
2 hanged afterward
1 killed
dozens wounded
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising that took place in central and western Massachusetts in 1786 and 1787. The
rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and one of the rebel leaders.
The rebellion started on August 29, 1786. It was precipitated by several factors: financial difficulties brought about
by a post-war economic depression, a credit squeeze caused by a lack of hard currency, and fiscally harsh
Shays' Rebellion
2
government policies instituted in 1785 to solve the state's debt problems. Protesters, including many war veterans,
shut down county courts in the later months of 1786 to stop the judicial hearings for tax and debt collection. The
protesters became radicalized against the state government following the arrests of some of their leaders, and began
to organize an armed force. A militia raised as a private army defeated a Shaysite (rebel) attempt to seize the federal
Springfield Armory in late January 1787, killing four and wounding 20. The main Shaysite force was scattered on
February 4, 1787, after a surprise attack on their camp in Petersham, Massachusetts. Scattered resistance continued
until June 1787, with the single most significant action being an incident in Sheffield in late February, where 30
rebels were wounded (one mortally) in a skirmish with government troops.
The rebellion took place in a political climate where reform of the country's governing document, the Articles of
Confederation, was widely seen as necessary. The events of the rebellion, most of which occurred after the
Philadelphia Convention had been called but before it began in May 1787, are widely seen to have affected the
debates on the shape of the new government. The exact nature and consequence of the rebellion's influence on the
content of the Constitution and the ratification debates continues to be a subject of historical discussion and debate.
Background
In the rural parts of New England, particularly in central and western Massachusetts, the economy during the
American Revolutionary War had been one of little more than subsistence agriculture. Most residents in these areas
had little in the way of assets beyond their land, and often bartered with one another for goods or services. In lean
times, farmers might obtain goods on credit from suppliers in local market towns who would be paid when times
were better.[1]
In the more economically developed coastal areas of Massachusetts Bay, the economy was basically a market
economy, driven by the activities of wholesale merchants dealing with Europe, the West Indies and elsewhere on the
North American coast.[2] Not surprisingly, the state government was dominated by this merchant class.[3]
When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, the European business partners of
Massachusetts merchants refused to extend lines of credit to them and insisted
that goods be paid for with hard currency. Despite the continent-wide shortage of
such currency, merchants began to demand the same from their local business
partners, including those merchants operating in the market towns in the state's
interior.[4] Many of these merchants passed on this demand to their customers,
although the popular governor, John Hancock, did not impose hard currency
demands on poorer borrowers and refused to actively prosecute the collection of
delinquent taxes.[5]
The rural farming population was generally unable to meet the demands being
made of them by merchants or the civil authorities, and individuals began to lose
their land and other possessions when they were unable to fulfill their debt and
tax obligations. This led to strong resentments against tax collectors and the
courts, where creditors obtained and enforced judgments against debtors, and
where tax collectors obtained judgments authorizing property seizures.[6]
Populist Governor John Hancock
refused to crack down on tax
delinquencies, and accepted devalued
paper currency for debts.
At a meeting convened by aggrieved commoners, a farmer, Plough Jogger,
encapsulated the situation:[7]
"I have been greatly abused, have been obliged to do more than my part in the war, been loaded with class
rates, town rates, province rates, Continental rates and all rates ... been pulled and hauled by sheriffs,
constables and collectors, and had my cattle sold for less than they were worth ... The great men are going to
get all we have and I think it is time for us to rise and put a stop to it, and have no more courts, nor sheriffs,
nor collectors nor lawyers."
Shays' Rebellion
3
Overlaid upon these financial issues was the fact that veterans of the war had
received little pay during the war and faced difficulty collecting back pay owed
them from the State or the Congress of the Confederation.[7] Some of the
soldiers, Daniel Shays among them, began to organize protests against these
oppressive economic conditions. Shays was a poor farmhand from Massachusetts
when the Revolution broke out; he joined the Continental Army, saw action at
the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill and Saratoga, and was
eventually wounded in action. In 1780, he resigned from the army unpaid and
went home to find himself in court for nonpayment of debts. He soon realized
that he was not alone in his inability to pay his debts and began organizing for
debt relief.[8]
Governor James Bowdoin instituted
a heavy tax burden and stepped up
collection of back taxes.
Early rumblings
One early protest against the government was led by Job Shattuck of Groton, who in 1782 organized residents there
to physically prevent tax collectors from doing their work.[9] A second, larger-scale protest took place in the central
Massachusetts town of Uxbridge, in Worcester County, on Feb. 3, 1783, when a mob seized property that had been
confiscated by a local constable and returned it to its owners. Governor Hancock ordered the sheriff to suppress these
actions.[10]
Most rural communities, however, attempted to use the legislative process to gain relief. Petitions and proposals
were repeatedly submitted to the state legislature to issue paper currency. Such inflationary issues would depreciate
the currency, making it possible to meet obligations made at high values with lower-valued paper. The merchants,
among them James Bowdoin, were opposed to the very idea, since they were generally lenders who stood to lose
from such proposals. As a result, these proposals were repeatedly rejected.[11] Governor Hancock, accused by some
of anticipating trouble, abruptly resigned in early 1785. When Bowdoin (a perennial loser to Hancock in earlier
elections) was elected governor that year, matters became more severe. Bowdoin stepped up civil actions to collect
back taxes, and the legislature exacerbated the situation by levying an additional property tax to raise funds for the
state's portion of foreign debt payments.[12] Even comparatively conservative commentators such as John Adams
observed that these levies were "heavier than the People could bear."[13]
Shutdown of the courts
Great Barrington
Shays' Rebellion
4
Northampton
Springfield
Concord
Worcester
Taunton
Petersham
Sheffield
This modern map of Massachusetts is annotated to show points of conflict. Places where military conflicts occurred
are highlighted in red; the others are locations of courthouses that were shut down. The Quabbin Reservoir, located
between Petersham and Northampton, did not exist at the time.
Protests in the rural Massachusetts turned into direct action in August 1786, after the state legislature adjourned
without considering the many petitions that had been sent to Boston.[14][15] On August 29 a well-organized force of
protestors formed in Northampton and successfully prevented the county court from sitting.[16] The leaders of this
and later forces proclaimed that they were seeking relief from the burdensome judicial processes that were depriving
the people of their land and possessions. They called themselves Regulators, a reference to the Regulator movement
of North Carolina that sought to reform corrupt practices in the late 1760s.[17]
On September 2 Governor Bowdoin issued a proclamation denouncing such mob action, but took no military
measures in response beyond planning militia response to future actions.[16][18] When the court in Worcester was
shut down by similar action on September 5, the county militia (composed mainly of men sympathetic to the
protestors) refused to turn out, much to Bowdoin's amazement.[19] Governors of the neighboring states where similar
protests took place acted decisively, calling out the militia to hunt down the ringleaders after the first such
protests.[20] In Rhode Island, matters were resolved without violence because the "country party" gained control of
the legislature in 1786 and enacted measures forcing its merchant elites to trade debt instruments for devalued
currency. The impact of this was not lost on Boston's merchants, especially Bowdoin, who held more than £3,000 in
Massachusetts notes.[21]
Daniel Shays, who had participated in the Northampton action, began to take a more active leadership role in the
uprising in November. On September 19, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts indicted eleven leaders of the
rebellion as "disorderly, riotous, and seditious persons."[8] When the supreme judicial court was next scheduled to
meet in Springfield on September 26, Shays in Hampshire County and Luke Day in what is now Hampden County
(but was then part of Hampshire County) organized an attempt to shut it down. They were anticipated by William
Shepard, the local militia commander, who began gathering government-supporting militia the Saturday before the
court was to sit. By the time the court was ready to open, Shepard had 300 men protecting the Springfield
courthouse. Shays and Day were able to recruit a similar number, but chose only to demonstrate, exercising their
troops outside Shepard's lines, rather than attempt to seize the building.[22] The judges first postponed the hearings,
and then adjourned on the 28th without hearing any cases. Shepard withdrew his force, which had grown to some
800 men (to the Regulators' 1,200), to the federal armory, which was then only rumored to be the target of seizure by
the activists.[23]
Shays' Rebellion
5
Protests in Great Barrington, Concord, and Taunton were also successful in shutting courts down in those
communities in September and October.[16] James Warren wrote to John Adams on October 22, "We are now in a
state of Anarchy and Confusion bordering on Civil War."[24] Courts in the larger towns and cities were able to meet,
but required protection of the militia, which Bowdoin called out for the purpose.[16]
The Boston elites were mortified at this resistance. Governor Bowdoin
commanded the legislature to "vindicate the insulted dignity of government."
Samuel Adams claimed that foreigners ("British emissaries") were instigating
treason among the commoners, and he helped draw up a Riot Act, and a
resolution suspending habeas corpus in order to permit the authorities to keep
people in jail without trial. Adams even proposed a new legal distinction: that
rebellion in a republic, unlike in a monarchy, should be punished by execution.
The legislature also moved to make some concessions to the upset farmers,
saying certain old taxes could now be paid in goods instead of hard currency.[8]
These measures were followed up by one prohibiting speech critical of the
government, and offering pardons to protestors willing to take an oath of
allegiance.[25] These legislative actions were unsuccessful in quelling the
protests,[8] and the suspension of habeas corpus alarmed many.[26]
Militia general William Shepard
defended the Springfield Armory
against rebel action.
In late November warrants were issued for the arrest of several of the protest
ringleaders. On November 28 a posse of some 300 men rode to Groton to arrest Job Shattuck and other rebel leaders
in the area. Shattuck was chased down and arrested on the 30th, and was wounded by a sword slash in the
process.[27] This action and the arrest of other protest leaders in the eastern parts of the state radicalized those in the
west, and they began to organize an overthrow of the state government. "The seeds of war are now sown", wrote one
correspondent in Shrewsbury,[28] and by mid-January rebel leaders spoke of smashing the "tyrannical government of
Massachusetts."[29]
Rebellion
Since the federal government had been unable to recruit soldiers for the army
(primarily because of a lack of funding), the Massachusetts elites determined to
act independently. On January 4, 1787, Governor Bowdoin proposed creation of
a privately funded militia army. Former Continental Army General Benjamin
Lincoln solicited funds, and had by the end of January raised more than £6,000
from more than 125 merchants.[30] The 3,000 militia that were recruited into this
army were almost entirely from the eastern counties of Massachusetts, and
marched to Worcester on January 19.[31]
While the government forces organized, Shays, Day, and other rebel leaders in
the west organized their forces, establishing regional regimental organizations
General Benjamin Lincoln, portrait
that were run by democratically elected committees. Their first major target was
by Henry Sargent
the federal armory in Springfield.[32] General Shepard had however, pursuant to
orders from Governor Bowdoin, taken possession of the armory and used its
arsenal to arm a force of some 1,200 militia. He had done this despite the fact that the armory was federal, not state,
property, and that he did not have permission from Secretary at War Henry Knox to do so.[33][34]
The insurgents were organized into three major groups, and intended to surround and simultaneously attack the
armory. Shays had one group east of Springfield near Palmer, Luke Day had a second force across the Connecticut
River in West Springfield, and the third force, under Eli Parsons, was to the north at Chicopee.[35] The rebels had
planned their assault for January 25, but Luke Day changed this at the last minute, sending Shays a message
Shays' Rebellion
6
indicating he would not be ready to attack until the 26th.[36] Day's message was intercepted by Shepard's men, so the
militia of Shays and Parsons, some 1,500 men, approached the armory on the 25th not knowing they would have no
support from the west.[37]
When Shays and his forces neared the armory, they found Shepard's
militia waiting for them. Shepard first ordered warning shots fired over
the approaching Shaysites' heads, and then ordered two cannons to fire
grape shot at Shays's men. Four Shaysites were killed and twenty
wounded. There was no musket fire from either side, and the rebel
advance collapsed.[38] Most of the rebel force fled north, eventually
regrouping at Amherst. On the opposite side of the river, Day's forces
also fled north, also eventually reaching Amherst.[39]
General Lincoln, when he heard of the Springfield incident,
The Springfield Armory (building pictured is
from the 19th century) was the first major target
immediately began marching west from Worcester with the 3,000 men
of the rebellion.
that had mustered. The rebels moved generally north and east to avoid
Lincoln, eventually establishing a camp at Petersham; along the way
they raided the shops of local merchants for supplies, taking some of them hostage. Lincoln pursued them, reaching
Pelham, some 30 miles (48 km) from Petersham, on February 2.[40] On the night of February 3–4, he led his militia
on a forced march to Petersham through a bitter snowstorm. Arriving early in the morning, they surprised the rebel
camp so thoroughly that they scattered "without time to call in their out parties or even their guards."[41] Although
Lincoln claimed to capture 150 men, none of them were officers, leading historian Leonard Richards to suspect the
veracity of the report. Most of the leadership escaped north into New Hampshire and Vermont, where they were
sheltered despite repeated demands that they be returned to Massachusetts for trial.[42]
Mopping up
Lincoln's march marked the end of large-scale organized resistance. Ringleaders who eluded capture fled to
neighboring states, and pockets of local resistance continued. Some rebel leaders approached Lord Dorchester, the
British governor of Quebec for assistance, who was reported to promise assistance in the form of Mohawk warriors
led by Joseph Brant.[43] (Dorchester's proposal was vetoed in London, and no assistance came to the rebels.)[44]
This monument marks the spot of the final battle
of Shays' Rebellion, in Sheffield, Massachusetts.
The same day that Lincoln arrived at Petersham, the state legislature
passed bills authorizing a state of martial law, giving the governor
broad powers to act against the rebels. It also authorized state
payments to reimburse Lincoln and the merchants who had funded the
army, and authorized the recruitment of additional militia.[45] On
February 12 the legislature passed the Disqualification Act, seeking to
prevent a legislative response by rebel sympathizers. This bill
expressly forbade any acknowledged rebels from holding a variety of
elected and appointed offices.[46]
Most of Lincoln's army melted away in late February as enlistments
expired; by the end of the month he commanded but thirty men at a base in Pittsfield.[47] In the meantime some 120
rebels had regrouped in New Lebanon, New York, and on February 27 they crossed the border. Marching first on
Stockbridge, a major market town in the southwestern corner of the state, they raided the shops of merchants and the
homes of merchants and local professionals. This came to the attention of Brigadier John Ashley, who mustered a
force of some 80 men, and caught up with the rebels in nearby Sheffield late in the day. In the bloodiest encounter of
the rebellion, 30 rebels were wounded (one mortally), at least one government soldier was killed, and many were
wounded.[48] Ashley, who was further reinforced after the encounter, reported taking 150 prisoners.[49]
Shays' Rebellion
7
Consequences
Some four thousand people signed confessions acknowledging participation in the events of the rebellion (in
exchange for amnesty); several hundred participants were eventually indicted on charges relating to the rebellion.
Most of these were pardoned under a general amnesty that only excluded a few ringleaders. Eighteen men were
convicted and sentenced to death, but most of these were either overturned on appeal, pardoned, or had their
sentences commuted. Two of the condemned men, John Bly and Charles Rose, were hanged on December 6,
1787.[50] Shays himself was pardoned in 1788 and he returned to Massachusetts from hiding in the Vermont
woods.[51] He was, however, vilified by the Boston press, who painted him as an archetypal anarchist opposed to the
government.[52] He later moved to the Conesus, New York, area, where he lived until he died poor and obscure in
1825.[51]
The crushing of the rebellion and the harsh terms of reconciliation imposed by the Disqualification Act all worked
against Governor Bowdoin politically. In the gubernatorial election held in April 1787, Bowdoin received few votes
from the rural parts of the state, and was trounced by John Hancock.[53] The military victory was tempered by tax
changes in subsequent years. The legislature elected in 1787 cut taxes and placed a moratorium on debts. It also
refocused state spending away from interest payments, resulting in a 30% decline in the value of Massachusetts
securities as those payments fell in arrears.[54]
Vermont, then an unrecognized independent republic that had been seeking statehood independent from New York's
claims to the territory, became an unexpected beneficiary of the rebellion due to its sheltering of the rebel
ringleaders. Alexander Hamilton broke from other New Yorkers, including major landowners with claims on
Vermont territory, calling for the state to recognize and support Vermont's bid for admission to the union. He cited
Vermont's de facto independence and its ability to cause trouble by providing support to the discontented from
neighboring states as reasons, and introduced legislation that broke the impasse between New York and Vermont.
Vermonters responded favorably to the overture, publically pushing Eli Parsons and Luke Day out of the state (but
quietly continuing to support others). After negotiations with New York and the passage of the new constitution,
Vermont became the fourteenth state.[55]
Impact on Constitution
Thomas Jefferson, who was serving as ambassador to France at the time, refused to be alarmed by Shays' Rebellion.
In a letter to a friend, he argued that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing. "The tree of liberty must be
refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."[56] In contrast to
Jefferson's sentiments George Washington, who had been calling for constitutional reform for many years, wrote in a
letter to Henry Lee, "You talk, my good sir, of employing influence to appease the present tumults in Massachusetts.
I know not where that influence is to be found, or, if attainable, that it would be a proper remedy for the disorders.
Influence is not government. Let us have a government by which our lives, liberties, and properties will be secured,
or let us know the worst at once."[57][58]
At the time of the rebellion, the weaknesses of the federal government
as constituted under the Articles of Confederation were apparent to
many. A vigorous debate was going on throughout the states on the
need for a stronger central government, with Federalists argued for the
idea, and anti-Federalists opposing them. Historical opinion is divided
on what sort of role the rebellion played in the formation and later
ratification of the United States Constitution, although most scholars
agree it played some role, at least temporarily drawing some
anti-Federalists to the strong government side.[59] By early 1785 many
1856 depiction of the 1787 Constitutional
Convention by Junius Brutus Stearns
Shays' Rebellion
8
influential merchants and political leaders were already agreed that a stronger central government was needed. A
convention at Annapolis, Maryland, in September 1786 of delegates from five states concluded that vigorous steps
needed to be taken to reform the federal government, but it disbanded because of a lack of full representation, calling
for a convention of all the states to be held in Philadelphia in May 1787.[60] Historian Robert Feer notes that several
prominent figures had hoped that convention would fail, requiring a larger-scale convention, and French diplomat
Louis-Guillaume Otto thought the convention was intentionally broken off early to achieve this end.[61]
In early 1787 John Jay wrote that the rural disturbances and the inability of the central government to fund troops in
response made "the inefficiency of the Federal government [become] more and more manifest."[62] Henry Knox
observed that the uprising in Massachusetts clearly influenced local leaders who had previously opposed a strong
federal government. Historian David Szatmary writes that the timing of the rebellion "convinced the elites of
sovereign states that the proposed gathering at Philadelphia must take place."[63] Some states, Massachusetts among
them, delayed choosing delegates to the proposed convention, in part because it some ways resembled the
"extra-legal" conventions organized by the protestors before the rebellion became violent.[64]
The convention that met in Philadelphia was dominated by strong-government
advocates.[65] Delegate Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut argued that because the
people could not be trusted (as exemplified by Shays' Rebellion), the members of
the federal House of Representatives should be chosen by state legislatures, not
by popular vote.[66] The example of Shays' Rebellion may also have been
influential in the addition of language to the constitution concerning the ability of
states to manage domestic violence, and their ability to demand the return of
individuals from other states for trial.[67] Federalists cited the rebellion as an
example of the confederation government's weaknesses, while opponents such as
Elbridge Gerry thought that a federal response to the rebellion would have been
even worse than that of the state. (Gerry, a merchant speculator and
Massachusetts delegate from Essex County, was one of the few convention
delegates who refused to sign the new constitution, although his reasons for
doing so did not stem from the rebellion.)[68]
Elbridge Gerry (1861 portrait by
James Bogle) was opposed to the
Constitution as drafted, although his
reasons for doing so were not
strongly influenced by the rebellion.
When the constitution had been drafted, Massachusetts was viewed by
Federalists as a state that might not ratify it, because of widespread anti-Federalist sentiment in the rural parts of the
state. Massachusetts Federalists, including Henry Knox, were active in courting swing votes in the debates leading
up to the state's ratifying convention in 1788. When the vote was taken on February 6, 1788, representatives of rural
communities involved in the rebellion voted against ratification by a wide margin, but the day was carried by a
coalition of merchants, urban elites, and market town leaders. The state ratified the constitution by a vote of 187 to
168.[69]
Historians are divided on the impact the rebellion had on the ratification debates. Robert Feer notes that major
Federalist pamphleteers rarely mentioned it, and that some anti-Federalists used the fact that Massachusetts survived
the rebellion as evidence that a new constitution was unnecessary.[70] However, Leonard Richards counters that
publications like the Pennsylvania Gazette explicitly tied anti-Federalist opinion to the rebel cause, calling opponents
of the new constitution "Shaysites" and the Federalists "Washingtonians".[71] David Szatmary argues that debate in
some states was affected, particularly in Massachusetts, where the rebellion had a polarizing effect.[72] Richards
records Henry Jackson's observation that opposition to ratification in Massachusetts was motivated by "that cursed
spirit of insurgency", but that broader opposition in other states originated in other constitutional concerns expressed
by Elbridge Gerry, who published a widely distributed pamphlet outlining his concerns about the vagueness of some
of the powers granted in the constitution and its lack of a Bill of Rights.[73]
The military powers enshrined in the constitution were soon put to use by President George Washington. After the
passage by the United States Congress of the Whiskey Act, protest against the taxes it imposed began in western
Shays' Rebellion
Pennsylvania. The protests escalated and Washington led federal and state militia to put down what is now known as
the Whiskey Rebellion.[74]
Memorials
The events and people of the uprising are commemorated in the towns where they lived and those where events took
place. Sheffield erected a memorial (pictured above) marking the site of the "last battle", and Pelham memorialized
Daniel Shays. US Route 202, which runs through Pelham, is called the Daniel Shays Highway. A statue of General
Shepard was erected in his hometown of Westfield.[75]
Notes
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
Szatmary, pp. 1–10
Szatmary, pp. 10–15
Szatmary, p. 31
Szatmary, pp. 25–31
Richards, p. 85
Szatmary, pp. 29–34
Zinn, p. 91
Zinn, p. 93
[9] Szatmary, p. 43
[10] Bacon, p. 1:148
[11] Szatmary, pp. 38–42,45
[12] Richards, pp. 87–88
[13] Richards, p. 88
[14] Richards, pp. 6–9
[15] Szatmary, p. 38
[16] Morse, p. 208
[17] Szatmary, p. 56
[18] Szatmary, pp. 79–80
[19] Szatmary, p. 80
[20] Szatmary, pp. 78–79
[21] Richards, pp. 84–87
[22] Holland, pp. 245–247
[23] Holland, p. 247
[24] Manuel, p. 219
[25] Szatmary, p. 84
[26] Szatmary, p. 92
[27] Szatmary, pp. 92–93
[28] Szatmary, p. 94
[29] Szatmary, p. 97
[30] Szatmary, pp. 84–86
[31] Szatmary, pp. 86–89, 104
[32] Szatmary, pp. 98–99
[33] Richards, pp. 27–28
[34] Holland, p. 261
[35] Richards, p. 28
[36] Szatmary, p. 101
[37] Richards, p. 29
[38] Szatmary, p. 102
[39] Szatmary, p. 103
[40] Szatmary, pp. 103–104
[41] Szatmary, p. 105
[42] Richards, pp. 31, 120
[43] Szatmary, p. 108
[44] Richards, p. 34
[45] Richards, p. 32
9
Shays' Rebellion
[46] Richards, p. 33
[47] Richards, p. 35
[48] Szatmary (p. 122) and Richards (p. 36) disagree on the casualty figures. Szatmary reports three government soldiers killed, Richards one.
Richards does not report on the government wounded.
[49] Richards, p. 36
[50] Richards, pp. 38–41
[51] Zinn, p. 95
[52] Richards, p. 117
[53] Richards, pp. 38–39
[54] Richards, p. 119
[55] Richards, p. 122
[56] Foner, p. 219
[57] Lodge, p. 2:26
[58] Feer, p. 396
[59] Szatmary, p. 120
[60] Szatmary, p. 122
[61] Feer, pp. 391–392
[62] Szatmary, p. 123
[63] Szatmary, p. 127
[64] Feer, p. 393
[65] Richards, p. 132
[66] Richards, p. 134
[67]
[68]
[69]
[70]
[71]
[72]
[73]
[74]
[75]
Szatmary, p. 130
Feer, p. 395
Szatmary, p. 133
Feer, p. 404
Richards, p. 139
Szatmary, pp. 128–132
Richards, pp. 141–143
Richards, pp. 135–136
Richards, pp. 117–118
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Company. OCLC 69843.
• Szatmary, David P. (1980). Shays's Rebellion: The Making of an Agrarian Insurrection. University of
Massachusetts Press. ISBN 978-0-87023-419-4.
• Zinn, Howard (2005). A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins.
ISBN 978-0-06-083865-2. OCLC 61265580.
Further reading
Additional scholarly sources
• Beard, Charles (1935). An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. New York:
Macmillan.
• Gross, Robert A., ed. (1993). In Debt to Shays: The Bicentennial of an Agrarian Rebellion. University Press of
Virginia. ISBN 978-0-8139-1354-4.
• Hale, Edward Everett (1891). The Story of Massachusetts (http://books.google.com/
books?id=NhA1pioAPowC&pg=PA301#v=onepage&q&f=falseoclc=3012062). Boston: D. Lothrop Company.
• Kaufman, Martin, ed. (1987). Shays's Rebellion: Selected Essays. Westfield, MA: Westfield State College.
OCLC 15339286.
• McCarthy, Timothy Patrick; McMillan, John (eds) (2011). The Radical Reader: A Documentary History of the
American Radical Tradition. New York: New Press. ISBN 978-1-59558-742-8. OCLC 741491899. (Reprints a
petition to the state legislature.)
• Middleton, Lamar (1968) [1938]. Revolt, USA. Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press. OCLC 422400.
• Minot, George Richards (1788). History of the Insurrections in Massachusetts (http://books.google.com/
books?id=qUwIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&f=false). Worcester, MA: Isaiah Thomas.
OCLC 225355026. (The earliest account of the rebellion. Although this account was deeply unsympathetic to the
rural Regulators, it became the basis for most subsequent tellings, including the many mentions of the rebellion in
Massachusetts town and state histories.)
• Munroe, James Phinney (1915). New England Conscience: With Typical Examples (http://books.google.com/
books?id=VkYYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA89#v=snippet&f=false). Boston: R. G. Badger. OCLC 1113783.
• Starkey, Marion Lena (1955). A Little Rebellion. New York: Knopf. OCLC 1513271.
• Wier, Robert (2007). "Shays' Rebellion". In Wier, Robert. Class in America: Q-Z. Westport, CT: Greenwood
Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-34245-5. OCLC 255745185.
Fictional treatments
• Collier, James Lincoln; Collier, Christopher (1978). The Winter Hero. Four Winds Press. (The rebellion is the
central story of this children's novel.)
• Degenhard, William (1943). The Regulators. New York: The Dial Press. OCLC 1663869.
• Martin, William (2007). The Lost Constitution. (The rebellion plays a central role in this novel.)
External links
• Selected Bibliography of Shay's Rebellion (http://www.history.army.mil/reference/EarlyRepub/SHAYS.
htm) compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History
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Article Sources and Contributors
Article Sources and Contributors
Shays' Rebellion Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=515102786 Contributors: $1LENCE D00600D, 097cfc, 2289surfer, 2headedboy, A Stop at Willoughby, ACloseFollowing,
Abluescarab, Abrowneckel, Acather96, Acroterion, Adashiel, Addshore, Aem1144, Agenbite, Agricolae, Ajaxkroon, Ajaxrools, Alansohn, Alejo123, AlexiusHoratius, Alkivar, Allixpeeke,
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KGasso, Kaganer, Karen Johnson, Katalaveno, Katarighe, Katzenjammer, Kchishol1970, Keilana, Ken Gallager, Kevin Myers, Keyesc, Kingpin13, Kirachinmoku, Kittiemassacre, Kkdj20,
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Marc29th, Marek69, Mark Arsten, Mastersplinter112, Materialscientist, MathewTownsend, Mathwhiz 29, Mathwiz360, Mato, Mattfrye, Mav, MayasDad, Mayordjq, McSly, Mcasey666,
Mesoderm, Metfan722, Michael93555, Midgley, Mike Rosoft, Mike hayes, Mindspillage, Minimac's Clone, Mod Beau, Mohamed Magdy, Molerat, Monolith2, Monty845, Mr Stephen, Mr.
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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Daniel_Shays_and_Job_Shattuck.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Cover of
Bickerstaff's Boston Almanack
Image:John Hancock 1770-crop.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:John_Hancock_1770-crop.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Brad101, Laura1822,
Scewing, 1 anonymous edits
Image:James Bowdoin II by Feke full length.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:James_Bowdoin_II_by_Feke_full_length.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors:
Magicpiano
file:USA Massachusetts location map.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:USA_Massachusetts_location_map.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License
Contributors: Alexrk2
File:Noun project 4.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Noun_project_4.svg License: Creative Commons Zero Contributors: SarahStierch
File:Legenda miejsce bitwy.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Legenda_miejsce_bitwy.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Staszek Szybki Jest
Image:General William Lyman Shepard.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:General_William_Lyman_Shepard.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike
3.0 Contributors: Wmshprd [Portrait by Gilbert Stuart] [Yale Gallery of Art]
Image:Lincoln, Benjamin (3-4 length) - NARA - 530962.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lincoln,_Benjamin_(3-4_length)_-_NARA_-_530962.jpg License: Public
Domain Contributors: Portrait by Henry Sargent
Image:Springfield Armory.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Springfield_Armory.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: National Park ServiceJames Langone,
Photographer
File:Monument to shays rebellion.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Monument_to_shays_rebellion.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: John Bessa
Image:Washington Constitutional Convention 1787.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Washington_Constitutional_Convention_1787.jpg License: Public Domain
Contributors: Junius Brutus Stearns, painter
Image:Elbridge-gerry-painting.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Elbridge-gerry-painting.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: James Bogle after John
Vanderlyn
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