Document #1: Textbook excerpt about Shays’ Rebllion
Daniel Shays (born Hopkinton, MA in 1747 and dying in Sparta, NY in 1825) was a decorated Continental Army
captain who later helped lead a rebellion and protest against politicians, economic injustice, and inequitable laws. These
included excessive taxes on property, unjust court actions, heavy polling taxes, the costly lawsuits, and an unstable
currency. They pressed for an issue of paper money.
The Revolutionary War was over, but the Constitutional Congress also had yet to convene. The country was in
chaos. Beginning in the summer of 1786, the “Regulators,” as the rebels called themselves, forced courts in Northampton,
Great Barrington, Worcester and Concord to close, preventing the sitting of the courts. Massachusetts's Governor, James
Bowdoin, quickly raised an army by private subscription of 4,400 militiamen under General Benjamin Lincoln to restore
the courts and to protect the state.
On January, 25th, 1787, Shays led insurgents to the Federal Arsenal in Springfield with about 1,500 armed men
behind him. This was the high-water mark of this violent and wide-spread rebellion that crested in the bloody clash at the
arsenal as the rebels attempted to seize the muskets, cannon, barracks, and ammunition stored here.
The rebel column approached from the East on what is today State Street toward today’s Federal Square before
they rushed toward the militia standing on today’s Armory Square [the grass quadrangle in front of the Springfield
Armory NHS Museum]. Massachusetts militia General William Shepard commanded 1,200 local militiamen who fired
several cannons into the ranks of the advancing rebels, killing four and wounding many more. No muskets were fired by
either side. Crying "murder", Shays’s men scattered in disarray toward Chicopee.
General Lincoln had moved westward from Boston to defend the Worcester court while Shays and the Regulators
marched on the Arsenal late in the afternoon of January 25th, 1787. He and his nearly 4,400 militiamen arrived in
Springfield a few days after the attempted rebel effort with reinforcements and quickly chased Shays's army northward.
On the morning of February 3rd, the insurgents were taken completely by surprise in Petersham, Massachusetts. General
Lincoln had marched his troops from Hadley through a snowstorm the previous night to attack as Shays and his men sat
down to breakfast. The regulators scattered, and the rebellion was effectively ended with some fighting and bloodshed
continuing in the months ahead in the Berkshire hills to the west.
Fourteen of the rebel leaders, including Shays, were soon sentenced to death for treason. Pardoned months later
by newly-elected Governor John Hancock, only two men, John Bly and Charles Rose of Berkshire County, were later
hung, and they as outlaws. By that summer, he and the newly-elected Massachusetts Legislature began the work of
reform.
That following summer, the Federal Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia struggled to create a stronger
central government that would "establish justice and insure domestic tranquility." Shays's Rebellion is today considered
one of the major events leading to the formation of the United States Constitution.
Document # 2: Unknown individual writes to editor of a Newspaper
To the editor of our Newspaper,
I recently read about the rebellion in Springfield, led by the previous revolutionary war hero Daniel Shays. Back in the
revolution days we were fighting for a free and independent country. Now our government is telling us what to do. And
old Dan Shays did not like it. Neither do I and if I could I would have been helping Mr. Shays. He didn't violate any laws
as far as I am concerned, just demonstrating for our rights. There's no question the taxes are too high, and we didn't even
get to vote on them. I hope the skirmishing in Springfield helps this newborn Government see what they're doing.
Revolutionary Veteran, I.B. Free
Document #3: Mary Pierce criticizes Daniel Shays
Dear Newspaper Editor,
I have been hearing around town and have been reading in the newspapers about these rebels that have been storming
court houses and rallying against the so called outrageous prices and taxes that the Government has put fourth. I was
talking to my neighbor and we came to the conclusion that every new organization has its beginning problems. I decided
we all have to bear with each other until it is all worked out. I think if word of this rebellion gets out to England they will
just tell our representatives that we were wrong to separate from England. Instead our new country needs to manage
problems together and peacefully. It may be time for our elected leaders to meet somewhere and write a new constitution
because these Articles of Confederation fail to give our government the power to prevent such rebellions! I hope that
leader of the rebellion, Daniel Shays, reads this and is informed of how I and my friends disapprove of forceful protest.
-Sent-in-by, Mary Pierce, Massachusetts.
Directions: Use the information found in the reading to answer the following questions about the Shays’
Rebellion. Be sure to identify the paragraph in which you found the answer in the reading material.(if it isn’t
an opinion or from prior knowledge) Each question is worth 6 points and the final task is worth 28 point for a
total of 100 points.
Document #1 Questions: 54 points
1. Who was Daniel Shays’? _____________________________________
2. What did the rebels call themselves and what did they force? ___________________________
and__________________________________________________________________________
3. Where did Daniel Shays lead the insurgents and what did they want to seize?
_______________________________and________________________________________
4. Who fired on the advancing rebels at the Springfield Armory? and what happened to the rebel
forces?_______________________________________________________________
and_______________________________________________________________________
5. Describe what happened when the Regulators marched on the Arsenal late in the afternoon of
January 25, 1787?________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
6. What happened after General Benjamin Lincoln marched his troops from Hadley through a
snowstorm?___________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
7. What sentence was handed down to the rebel leaders? and for what?_____
________________________________and_______________________________________
8. What did John Hancock do after he was elected governor of Massachusetts?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
9. Shays’s Rebellion lead to the formation of what?_________________________________.
Document # 2 Questions: 12 points
1. What does "I.B. Free" think about Shays’ Rebellion? _______________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Why do you think "I.B. Free" did not sign his letter with his real name, but uses a pseudonym
instead?____________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Document # 3 Question: 6 points
1. What does Mary Pierce think should be done to fix the new country's problems instead of
rebelling the way Shays did? __________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Final Task: 28 points Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper using
the RACE FORMAT to ensure all of your points! do these three documents suggest about
the government under the Articles of Confederation? Based on the three documents did
the government have a problem on its hands? Why or why not?