Shays' Rebellion: The Revolution’s Last Battle
Grade Level:
9th Grade
Subject:
American Studies
Prepared By:
Gina Song | EDS 500
Overview & Purpose
Education Standards Addressed
To understand how and why the colonial Americans were able to successfully overturn the government of the
Articles and birth a new government via the Constitution. Students should grasp how radical and unprecedented the
achievements of the first governments were.
CCGPS L9-10RH2: Determine the central ideas or
information of a primary or secondary source; provide
an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop
over the course of the text.
Teacher Guide
Objectives
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(Specify skills/information that will be learned.)
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Information
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(Give and/or demonstrate necessary information)
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Assessment
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(Steps to check for student understanding)
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In Class Activities
(Describe the independent activity to reinforce this
lesson)
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To learn about the different ways that Shay’s rebellion affected
students’ assigned people
To be able to describe and internalize details, atmosphere, attitudes,
moods, and circumstances that revolved around and/or resulted from
the rebellion
To hear the view points from the different student groups
To be able to come together as a larger group, share their specific
descriptions, and make inductions about different experiences from the
overall event.
Materials Needed
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People narratives
Worksheets
Images
Projector
Narratives of the people of Shays’ Rebellion
Concept of historical facts having many different perspectives and
stories
Completion of worksheets that go with the reading
Homework assignment
Discussion participation
Class Welcome & Introduction of the Lesson
Video clip on Shay’s Rebellion.
Class Discussion
Independent Study w/Readings with ELL modification1
Partner/Group Brainstorm
Homework
Other Resources
(e.g. Web, books, etc.)
Web: Character Stories found at
http://shaysrebellion.stcc.edu/shaysapp/people/home.do
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Abigail Adams: The view from England.
Dr. Elihu Ashley: The view from a prominent man.
Seth Catlin: The view from the disgruntled Loyalist.
Captain Luke Day: The view from in front of the guns.
Mary Harvey: The view from a mother.
Justin Hitchcock: The view from the Concerned Citizen.
Elizabeth Porter Phelps: The view from a Whig lady.
Moses Sash: The view from the African-American veteran.
Daniel Shays: The view from the rebellion’s leader.
10. John Williams: The view from the businessman.
Modification for English language learning (ELL) students: ELL students can choose to make observations about images (attached in this packet) that take the point of view from two conflicting sides. If the students can
think and analyze in their native language while looking at an image and then write or speak what they are thinking in English, it might be an easier task than thinking and analyzing text. The students can also write in their
language their observations about the picture, but they will also have to have something written in English.
Shays' Rebellion: The Revolution’s Last Battle
This lesson is designed not only to inform students of a significant event in American history (Shays’ Rebellion) but to open up their minds to the reality that historical knowledge
can be one-sided. The lesson will focus on presenting different perspectives of Shays’ Rebellion from selected characters. The aim is not to bring students to a “correct”
conclusion of the event, but to open up doors to the uncertainties of historical knowledge. This expansion of knowledge will hopefully transfer into the lives of the students outside
of the classroom: it will be our task “to bring everyone and everything out of the mist so we might hear their voices, follow their actions, and respect each person, past and present,
as a maker as well as a subject of history” (O’Connell). This is the ultimate aim of this lesson as well as the unit and course as a whole.
[ Class Schedule ]
1:00-1:05pm
Class Introduction- Welcome the class, collect homework, and introduce the lesson for the day
1:05-1:12pm
Video Clip- Class will watch the History Channel’s “10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America” (2006) episode on Shay’s Rebellion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ImIEcsTEVo
1:12-1:18pm
Class Discussion- Class will talk about the perspective and slant presented in the video, and teacher will model the kind of critical thinking and analysis that the
students are to employ. Teacher will also encourage metacognition.
1:18-1:20pm
Hand out readings and images.
1:20-2:00pm
Independent Study- Students will read over a narrative about different colonial characters and fill out a worksheet that will guide their thinking. A silent
slideshow of pictures of Shays’ Rebellion will be playing through the projector, and students can feel free to approach the teacher with any questions. Teacher
will be going over the homework that the students handed in at the beginning of class.
2:00-2:15pm
Partners/Group- Students will meet with other students who had the same person and discuss their findings and reactions. This is meant to allow the students to
brainstorm with a partner or a small group (depending on the size of the class) and bounce off ideas from one another. It will also encourage the students who
learn better by discussion and interaction, rather than reading and independent study.
2:15-2:30pm
Wrap Up: Teacher will assign homework and explain tomorrow’s class activity.
[ Class Activity ]: Students will be arranged in groups where there is one (or two) representative(s) per each colonial character, and they will share and talk about
Shays’ Rebellion from their character’s point of view. This will give students the opportunity to internalize and then express text and stories that they have read,
and they can be exposed to the other points of view as well.
[ Homework ]: Students will be asked to think of a scenario that they were once involved in and to talk about all of the different points of views of the characters
that were involved, and how different people might have had different experiences from the same event.
Prior Knowledge: In the previous lesson, the students learned about the basic facts and historical significance of Shay’s rebellion. They will be coming into this lesson with
a basic knowledge of the traditional commentary that describes Shay’s rebellion as a protest of Massachusetts farmers against the imprisonment of civilians that were in debt. They
will be familiar with the idea that Shay’s rebellion revealed “the hid degree of internal conflict lurking beneath the surface of post-Revolutionary life” (ushistory.org, 2012). They
will already have a clear understanding of the following key terms:
continental army
continental congress
Whig Loyalist
Regulators
Homework Assignment: Think of something personal that has happened in your life (it can be an argument with a friend, winning a team sporting event, etc.) that has involved
at least 3 people. Be specific about noting the emotions and experiences of the people present, including your own. Tell the story from your point of view as well as from the
point of explaining the reasons for their attitudes and/or actions, just as we did in class today, exposing bias and perspectives just like we did in class today.
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Bringing history to life: the people of shays' rebellion . (2008). Retrieved from http://shaysrebellion.stcc.edu/shaysapp/essay.do?shortName=people_shays
O'Connell, B. (n.d.). Who owns history. Informally published manuscript, Amherst College, Amherst , MA
ushistory.org. (2012). Shays' rebellion . Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/us/15a.asp
Shays Rebellion Case Study Blurbs
1. The View From England
Abigail Adams (1774-1818)
Wife to John Adams (member of the Continental Congress) and mother to John Quincy Adams, who would grow up to become
the 6th president of the United States, Abigail Adams learned about Shay’s rebellion in while she was in England with her
family. As a Massachusetts native and wife to a politician, she was anxious about the violence and also insistent on u[holding
peace and order despite the mob-rebellion.
2. The View From A Prominent Man
Dr. Elihu Ashley (1750-1817)
As a successful physician in Deerfield, Massachusetts, Elihu Ashley looked down on the people involved in the rebellion,
considering them dangerous to threatening law and order. He criticized protests and feared public violence. Though he was
accused of being a Loyalist, he is remembered as being faithful to the Commonwealth (of Massachusetts) until the day he died.
3. The View From The Disgruntled Loyalist
Seth Catlin (1734-1798)
Seth Catlin was loyal to the British Crown, and was active against the Whig party and the Sons of Liberty. He was committed
to seeing a strong government and hate to see mobs led by lawless men. He was the second richest man in Deerfield,
Massachusetts, and refused to fight in the Revolutionary War due to conflicts of principle.
4. The View From Behind the Guns
Captain Luke Day (1743-1801)
A friend to the common soldier, Captain Luke Day was an unconventional officer in the continental army. He successfully
protected Massachusetts’s court when citizens were protesting it. He lobbied for soldiers to be paid their due once they were
discharged from the army but eventually ended up in debtor’s prison. Becoming more and more outraged by the legislature’s
ignoring the lobbying, he led the – with Daniel Shays – the protest against the Court.
5. The View From A Mother
Mary Harvey (1746-1785)
Mary was the oldest of five children and mother to ten – soon to be eleven – children. There is question as to whether or not
she was literate. Her father and husband were veterans from the French and Indian war, but her husband refused his draft to
serve in the American Revolutionary War. He did, however, choose to serve on Deerfield’s Committee of Safety, but also
joined the Regulators during Shays’ Rebellion.
6. The View From The Concerned Citizen
Justin Hitchcock (1752-1882)
In favor of a strong government, Justin Hitchcock joined a group of fellow Deerfield citizens to march with the militia to protect
the Court from the mob protests. He was emphatic about the new federal Constitution that was drafted, and was convinced that
Shay’s rebellion played a key role in its birth.
7. The View From A Whig Lady
Elizabeth Porter Phelps (1747-1817)
Daughter to the Captain of the Hadley militia (French and Indian War), Elizabeth had to shoulder much of the home
responsibility. She came from a prosperous and prominent family. She depicts well the view of those fearing violence and
questioning if the aftermath of the American Revolution would actually embody its ideals of individual freedom and selfdetermination.
8. The View From The African-American Veteran
Moses Sash (1775-?)
Little is known about Moses Sash. A farmer from Massachusetts, Sash was a private in the Continental Army and later joined
Shays and the other protestors. He was accused of trying to collect arms for the mob – or as they would refer to themselves, the
“Regulators” – and of recruiting and advocating for armed protesting against the state.
9. The View From The Rebellion’s Leader
Daniel Shays (1747-1825)
Daniel Shays is identified as the rebellion’s (or as he would call it, the movement’s) leader. A Captain in the Continental Army,
Shays had always shown enthusiasm about the military. He was reputable as a courteous officer and an example of a
gentleman, who was deeply committed to the Patriotic cause. He believed that his and his follower’s actions were not only just,
but captured the spirit of America.
10. The View From The Businessman
John Williams (1751-1816)
An aggressive Loyalist, Williams was committed to denouncing the Revolutionary War,. His contempt for the revolt against
England made him uncooperative with the Court, and he was eventually jailed for his lack of cooperation. He was also
committed to making trade relations outside of Massachusetts and even internationally with China, and was ironically elected to
the General Court of Massachusetts.
Paraphrased from http://shaysrebellion.stcc.edu/shaysapp/people/home.do
Images
Victimizes the government
Victimizes the farmers
Shows organization of the Regulators
Evokes “simple-American” feeling toward Shays
Portrays the Regulators as a mob
Sympathizes with the Regulators