Shays' Rebellion

T. Seay, BHS

How did Shay's Rebellion help lead the U.S. to federalism?

Background: Revolution is over Articles of Confederation are the

government European war investors demanding

repayment Taxes

How did Shay's Rebellion help lead the U.S. to federalism?

* Shays' Rebellion occurred in western Massachusetts in Aug. 1786 to January 1787

* The Federalist Papers began appearing in NY newspapers in October 1787, after the rebellion

How did Shay's Rebellion help lead the U.S. to federalism?

Daniel Shays: veteran of American Revolution

Led hundreds of poor farmers

Protesting taxes and crippling war debt In those days: debtor's prisons

How did Shay's Rebellion help lead the U.S. to federalism?

Shays and his men tried to force courts in Massachusetts to close and thus prevent them from seizing the property of farmers

How did Shay's Rebellion help lead the U.S. to federalism?

Rebels in Shays' “army” saw themselves as upholding the spirit of the Revolution

How did Shay's Rebellion help lead the U.S. to federalism?

Shays was charged with treason but was acquitted

Then, he was given a veteran's pension. Died many years later, in 1825, still convinced he had acted in spirit of American Revolution

How did Shay's Rebellion help lead the U.S. to federalism?

Think, research, pair, share: Find two other people, and look (together) at the first three articles of the Constitution. See if you can find out which is the only crime defined in the Constitution. Take 5 minutes, and be ready to share.