Name: _____________________________________________________
Handout #
Shays’ Rebellion
10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America: “Shays’ Rebellion 1787”
Link to video:
37
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEoeK5MvEdYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEoeK5MvEdY
ACTIVATOR: A group of disgruntled citizens in a small region of your country have signed petitions about unfair
treatment that your new government has been ignoring. Now the rebels have resorted to violence to have their voices heard.
How should your government respond? [Will you let that small region figure it out, will your country send in the military,
will you compromise with the rebels, etc.] Explain!
(Intro 0:00 – 7:00)
1. What role did Daniel Shays play in the American Revolution? (7:00-9:54)
2. What were 3 potential consequences for farmers who could not pay their mortgages?( 9:55)
1.
2.
3.
3. According to historian Carol Berkin, how did losing your farm affect your social status? (13:10)
4. Who were the elite (highest members in society) of Massachusetts in the 1780s? (13:30)
5. How did Shays and his supporters FIRST voice their demands to the Massachusetts legislature?
(14:32)
6. Whose tactics of protest did the farmers imitate and how did this “teacher” view this rebellion?
(16:13)
7. Why was the federal government unable to resolve Shays’ Rebellion? (19:01)
8. Why did the “Shaysites” oppose the state courts? (19:22)
9. What 3 laws did the Massachusetts legislature put into effect against the “Shaysites”? (22:30)
10. How did the commercial elite help put down Shays’ Rebellion? (27:20)
11. Why did Shays attack the Springfield Armory? (28:28-29:35)
(End: 30:25 – 44:00)
PROCESSING QUESTION: In 3-5 sentences, explain how Shays’ Rebellion exposed the weaknesses of the
American government under the Articles of Confederation.