Shays Rebellion :: essays research papers

Troubled FarmersIn the first years of peacetime, following the Revolutionary War, the future day of both the agrarian and commercial society appeared threatened by a strangling chain of debt which aggravated the depressed economy of the postwar years.1 This curt economy affected almost everyone in New England especially the grangers. For years these farmers, or yeomen as they were commonly called, had been used to ontogeny just enough for what they needed and grew minuscule in surplus. As one farmer explained My farm provides me and my family with a good living. Nothing we wear, eat, or drink was purchased, because my farm provides it all.2 The only chore with this way of life is that with no surplus there was no way to make enough money to pay excessive debts. For example, since farmer possessed little money the merchants offered the articles they needed on short-term credit and accepted any surplus farm goods on a seasonal basis for payment. However if the farmer experienc ed a poor crop, shopkeepers usually extended credit and thereby tied the farmer to their businesses on a yearly basis.3 During a credit crisis, the gradual disintegration of the traditional culture became more apparent. During hard times, merchants in need of ready cash withdrew credit from their yeomen customers and called for the repayment of loans in hard cash. Such demands showed the growing power of the commercial elite.4 As one could imagine this brought much social and economic unrest to the farmers of New England. Many of the farmers in debt were dragged into court and in more cases they were put into debtors prison. Many decided to take action The farmers waited for the legal due process as long as them could. The Legislature, also know as the commonplace Court, took little action to address the farmers complaints. 5 So without waiting for General Court to come back into session to work on grievances as requested, the raft took matters into their own hands.6 This is whe n the idea for the Rebellion is decided upon and the need for a leader was eminent.The RebellionThe person that was chosen to lead the rebellion was Daniel Shays. Shays, born in Hopkinton Massachusetts, grew up as a farmer before he fought for his country in the War for Independence. During the War he fought in such key battles as the Battle of Lexington, Bunker Hill and Saratoga.