Shays’ Rebellion, a Familiar Formula, and a Necessary Result

On May 16, 1771, approximately 3,500 men met at a large field in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. For about two decades, the fight over excessive taxation and political corruption had increased from debate to protests to rioting. Now, it was an armed struggle. Of the 3,500 men who met near Great Alamance Creek, 2,000 were citizen farmers called Regulators. The others—slightly outnumbered, but better armed and better organized—were North Carolina militiamen. They had been sent by Governor James William Tryon to quell the rebellion.
Four months prior, on Jan. 15, Governor Tryon had signed the Johnston Act, which was “​​An Act for Preventing Tumultuous and Riotous Assemblies, and for the More Speedy and Effectually Punishing the Rioters, and for Restoring and Preserving the Public Peace of This Province.” What the Act did not do, obviously, was address the farmers’ grievances.
Before the breakout of armed hostility, the farmers requested one last time to meet with Governor Tryon. The governor responded that the farmers had to first lay down their arms, and they had one hour to do so. The farmers responded defiantly: “Fire and be damned.”
The militia responded in kind. After a two-hour battle, the militia had defeated the rebel farmers. In the process, nine militia members were killed and 61 wounded. The casualty numbers among the farmers went unrecorded. The day after the battle, Tryon promised amnesty to any Regulator who took an oath of loyalty to the colony. More than 6,400 took the oath.
For 150 years, the British had practiced the governmental policy of “salutary neglect.” British debt from the Seven Years’ War (known in America as the French and Indian War), however, had driven the king and Parliament to unilaterally institute laws and administer taxes on the colonists. One of the common refrains during the Revolution was “taxation without representation is tyranny.”
Indeed, it was all over. After signing the Treaty of Paris on Sept. 3, 1783, the Americans were left to rule themselves. Self-governance after a revolution, however, was difficult. The war took a toll on a once-prosperous economy for various reasons, but mainly because its traditional and primary trading partner, Great Britain, implemented trade restrictions and heavily restricted American imports. With America’s agrarian economy, the farmers again took a major hit.
During the summer of 1786, the Massachusetts farmers tried to convince the state legislature to relieve the tax burden, or at least close the courts so farmers wouldn’t lose their property. The farmers were met with the same response that the Regulators had received in 1771 and that the Second Continental Congress had received after sending King George III the Olive Branch Petition. These citizens had followed the formula of debate, protest, and rioting, and were now at the final stage: armed resistance.
It was during this week in history, on Aug. 29, 1786, that 1,500 armed farmers, calling themselves “Regulators,” seized the courthouse in Northampton, Massachusetts. Among the farmers was Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental Army. Throughout the following month of September, the courts in Berkshire, Middlesex, Plymouth, and Worcester counties were blocked by armed farmers. Shays quickly rose to prominence among the farmers and led more than a thousand men to march on the Massachusetts Supreme Court in Springfield to prevent its proceedings. It was the beginning of what famously became known as Shays’ Rebellion.
This armed resistance, however, resulted in some relief, as the state legislature agreed to suspend debt repayments and stopped foreclosures for several months. The legislature, however, also passed legislation similar to the Johnston Act. The Militia Act made it illegal to join the ongoing farmers revolt. The Riot Act prohibited the gathering of a dozen or more armed persons. It also allowed sheriffs to beat, imprison, or even kill rioters. Lastly, habeas corpus was suspended for anyone involved in the ongoing rebellion.
The rebellion had grown, but more than that, those who were not directly involved in the rebellion, were often sympathetic to the farmers’ and former soldiers’ plight. It proved difficult to garner enough militia members to stanch the growing revolt. There was great concern about the rebellion, even among the most prominent American farmers and former soldiers, such as George Washington.
If Lincoln did respond, Shays didn’t receive it. As the Regulators neared the armory, the militia fired several warning shots. The Regulators took no heed. Shepard directed his men to fire grapeshot into the 1,500 armed farmers. Four were killed and dozens wounded. The rest fled.
What was needed was what Shays had mentioned: “constitutional relief.” Due in large part to Shays’ Rebellion and the issues it highlighted, the leaders of the new country, such as Washington and Madison, agreed that “constitutional relief” was required—and sooner rather than later.
Exactly four months after the standoff at the Springfield armory, which effectively ended Shays’ Rebellion, delegates from all 13 states began to gather in Philadelphia for a convention. What developed from this convention was the United States Constitution—the oldest constitution in history and the source of “the tranquility of the Union.”