8.3.5

Know the significance of domestic resistance movements and ways in which the central government responded to such movements (e.g., Shays' Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion).
             As a newly formed nation, America’s debts from war and newly arisen tribulations caused its foundation to disintegrate, but the elucidations to these problems came in the form of an entirely new government, justified by the Constitution of the United States. After the Revolutionary War, the colonies were in a depression because of the economic instability of trade and agriculture. Many crops and farms had been damaged in the Southern states so there were fewer amounts of goods to export, which meant lowered revenue. The ties that American merchants had developed with the British, before the war, were broken so they had to create new ones to replace the old ones. To make the matter worse, the federal government still allocated soldiers for their duties and colonists for the property the militia took. What little money there was left went to pay off foreign debts, so the government resolved to levy the colonists. Although most people could afford to pay the heavy taxation, farmers suffered given that they had badly damaged crops and couldn’t sell their goods. If a farmer could not pay the taxes then state officers would take away his land, and this situation grew more common everyday.  Finally, the farmer’s protests grew into revolts and many viewed the government as a tyranny.
             Shay’s rebellion illustrated the unforgiving feelings of farmers towards the policies of the American government. Daniel Shay, a former Continental Army general, led a group of approximately 1,500 discontent followers into Springfield, Massachusetts and occupied the courthouse for three days. The courthouses were used to prosecute colonists that had been arrested because they didn’t have the money to pay the full value of the due. Shay determined that if they closed the courthouses down then there wouldn’t be any hearings dealing with taxes. In January 1787, Shay led two thirds of the entire group towards the federal arsenal to get some more arms and ammunition but was intercepted by the state militia. They continued to advance forward when they were told to halt, and the militia opened fire, killing four rebels. American’s were alarmed that the government was losing control of people but Jefferson cited, “A little rebellion, now and then is a good thing.” Shay’s rebellion evidently had its effect on the Constitution and was shown in the form of the checks and balances system, which limited the powers of each federal branch, such as taxing.
             Issues of slavery united many African-Americans and created several institutions that promoted antislavery, which became such an important dilemma that it was debated for days at the Constitutional Convention. Slavery, between 1776 and 1786, was outlawed or heavily taxed in eleven states and many individuals or groups tried to end it. In 1775, Quakers started the first American antislavery society and states responded by making slavery illegal in Massachusetts, since the state constitution acknowledged that“ all men are born free and equal.” The southern states, however, disagreed with outlawing slavery because slaves were fundamentally the work force. During the Constitutional Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise settled the topic of slavery, so that for every five slaves their representation, during a Congressional meeting, would only amount to three people.
             On July of 1794, there was another occurrence that showed the colonist’s reactions to a government that taxed people without their consent. When the Congress passed a bill to levy distilled whiskey large production of the alcohol would have an edge over smaller companies. Larger breweries were willing to pay a small amount of money every year, but smaller producers had problems.  To the frontier farmers, it was nearly unfeasible to pay the taxes in cash, which was uncommon in the western part of the United States during the 1700’s. Many small producers were discontent on supporting a national government that did not adequately represent the western frontier.  Again, taxes were the source of the problem and 500 farmers responded by attacking the tax collectors with guns and pitchforks. George Washington led an army to easily crush the opposition. He told the citizens that if they were discontent with something then they would have to do so using constitutional means, such as a petition. This case shows what it means to be governed without consent. All of these problems, from Shay’s Rebellion to the Whiskey Rebellion, illustrated America’s changes in policy due to the efforts of individuals to build a government based on the people’s needs.


More Information:

   1.    http://www.homeofheroes.com/hallofheroes/1st_floor/birth/1bc3b.html
          Tells you why the Articles of Confederation were revised because of situations such as the Shay’s Rebellion.

   2.    http://www.sjchs-history.org/shays.html
          A website with a detailed explanation of the Shay’s Rebellion.

   3.    http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/whiskey_rebellion.htm
          This website gives you the reasons and responses of why Americans rebelled in the Whiskey Rebellion.


Recommended Books:

   1.    The Whiskey Rebellion: Frontier Epilogue to the American Revolution
          Thomas P. Slaughter