Shays Rebellion

How did the debts incurred by a bunch of Massachusetts farmers lead to the formation of the U.S. Constitution? The answer is The Shays Rebellion, a short but influential revolt that took place in western Massachusetts in 1786-87.

The road to The Shays Rebellion started with the government of Massachusetts needing to pay off its massive Revolutionary War debt during the rough economic years that followed the American Revolution. To do so the government, dominated by eastern merchants at the expense of western farmers, raised taxes.
As the farmers of western Massachusetts returned home from the war, they found themselves in a thankless situation.

The combination of high taxes and a bad economy threw many of them into debt. Shortly after having fought for the country’s liberty, they suddenly were losing their property and being thrown in debtor’s prison at an alarming rate. Poll taxes kept many of them from voting, preventing them from relieving the situation politically.

By 1786, the farmers began to organize armed resistance. They shut down several state courthouses in the west to prevent further property seizures, viewing themselves as essentially fighting an ongoing American Revolution. Among their leaders was Captain Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War hero who succeeded in shutting down the courthouse at Springfield, Mass.  Previously, Shays had his own date in court in 1780 due to debt, and he supposedly once watched the bed of an old lady taken out from under her to cover her debt.

The Massachusetts governor, James Bowdoin, leaned on eastern businessmen to raise an army to put down the rebellion.  Needing a defensive position and desirous of its weaponry, Shays decided to try to take the Springfield Armory. On Jan. 25, 1787, Shays’ men marched on the Armory but were pushed back by a recently arrived federal force. The federal forces needed to fire only one cannon shot. With several dead, Shays’ forces retreated. His men were chased and arrested, and a few were hanged, thus ending most of the resistance.

While the rebellion was confined to Massachusetts, the new nation’s elite looked on with horror, as they feared the Revolution they had just won would soon dissolve into anarchy.  George Washington fretted about the impact. The Shays Rebellion convinced the elite to use a forthcoming gathering to consider a new constitution to issue a document that strengthened the central government. The Constitution of the United States was that document.