Shays’ Rebellion Begins to Crumble after a Battle with State Militia in Petersham: February 4, 1787

This text comes from our book, From Sea to Shining Sea.

Though the colonies had won their independence from Great Britain, all was not well in America. This was especially true for farmers, who had done quite well for themselves throughout the war selling crops to the Continental army. When the war ended, these farmers could not make as much money, since there was no longer an army to feed. So it was that many farmers could not pay back money they owed, nor could they pay their taxes.

Political cartoon about the ratification of the US Constitution, including events such as Shays’ Rebellion, by Amos Doolittle, 1787

In those days, people could go to jail for not paying their debts, and so many a farmer found himself thrown into debtor’s prison. Other farmers lost their lands and property, for the people to whom they owed money were allowed to seize property as payment.

Some states took measures to help the farmers, but not Massachusetts. The wealthy men in the state assembly blocked bills that were aimed at helping the farmers. The Massachusetts assembly even passed a stamp tax. Throughout the state, farmers began gathering to protest what the assembly was doing (or not doing) to help them. When the assembly still refused to listen to their complaints, farmers began setting up committees to resist the government. Sam Adams, who had done the very same thing against the British government 10 years before, said the rebellious farmers should be hanged.

A proclamation issued against Shays’ rebellion by Massachusetts’ governor, John Hancock, 1787

Such threats did not frighten the farmers. In the fall of 1786, farmers in western Massachusetts kept local courts from hearing cases, so that no one could be tried for not paying his debts. The leader of the rebellious farmers was Daniel Shays, who had been a captain during the Revolutionary War. When Massachusetts Governor James Bowdoin ordered the farmers to disperse (or else he would send out the state militia against them), Shays and his men did not run for cover. Instead, they set out for the town of Springfield to keep the state supreme court from meeting.

When Shays and his men arrived at Springfield on January 25, 1787, they found the state militia under General William Shepherd already there, guarding the town. Shepherd, who had fought side by side with Shays at Bunker Hill, did not want to hurt the farmers. He ordered his men to fire over the farmers’ heads, but Shays and his men showed no signs of fear. They kept on advancing against the militia. Shepherd, knowing the farmers meant business, then ordered his men to shoot to kill. A loud explosion of muskets and artillery followed, and the air was filled with black smoke. This was too much for the farmers; they broke and fled.

A blacksmith expresses anger over a legal writ foreclosing his shop.

It was bitter winter, and Shays and his men trudged through ice and snow until they reached the town of Petersham, northeast of Springfield. On February 4, they fought another battle with state militia under General Benjamin Lincoln. Shays was defeated and fled to Vermont. Another of the rebel leaders, Eli Parsons, fled to New York, where he was again able to gather a force. In late February, Parsons and his men marched again into Massachusetts, gathering more men as they went. At Stockbridge they seized supplies, but at Springfield they were defeated by a larger force of state militia. In this skirmish, two of the rebels were killed and 30 were wounded.

So ended Shays’ rebellion. Though it was short and unsuccessful, it did accomplish something. In the spring of 1787, the people of Massachusetts elected a new assembly and a new governor who passed laws to help the farmers. The rebellion also frightened many. What if it had been larger and better organized? Could the government of Massachusetts have stopped it? And if Massachusetts could not control such a rebellion, could the government of the United States in Philadelphia do anything to help? This last question, as we shall see, was the most important of all. By 1787 many had come to think the Continental Congress a very weak and incompetent government.