Shays Rebellion

Shay's Rebellion is more than a simple act of civil disobedience of citizens against their government. There were a lot of key causes and factors to Shay's Rebellion. All of theses factors and problems added up cause an uproar. The Rebellion in itself was not that big of a rebellion, however it did create a very big impact on the leaders of the nation. The Rebellion occurred in many places all over the new colonies, but most of the effect of the Rebellion took place at Massachusetts.

The current war that had just occurred between the English and the colonists left the colonists starting their own nation and economy. Being a new and one-of-a-kind country, not only were the colonists confused but they were low on cash in their budget. Everything they did in the past revolved around the British and they wanted to change that. The war caused many farmers in Massachusetts to borrow money so that they could pay their taxes and support their families. Banks had not been invented at this time so when farmers borrowed money it would most likely be from their neighbors or other wealthy merchants. This was a highly unstable pyramid of credit. Adding to this problem, the English forced itself on the American market by taxing them on goods. The English bank was also calling in loans which they had previously given to old American colonists. The laboring people and colonists were not to happy or pleased by this in the least bit.

These people demanded that the government make changes in their benefit. They wanted the government to make suspension laws on collecting loans. These people also demanded that the government make new paper money so that they could pay private debts and government taxes. The government knew that this would not help its economy as a whole at all. The colonists also wanted relief on their taxes. All of these cries were ignored by the Congress and government. Citizens became frustrated at this. They started to riot and many mobs began to form, mostly around the Massachusetts area. The government started bringing in armed men to enforce its laws on the angry colonists.

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