Causes Of Shay's Rebellion

A cannot be correct, because Shay’s Rebellion happened under the Massachusetts’ rigidly conservative state government where the taxes from Boston fell most heavily on the struggling farmers. When the Massachusetts legislature did not provide the farmers any form of relief (such as paper money), rag-tag bands of armed farmers from three western Massachusetts agricultural counties joined together under the name “the Regulators” in what would be known as Shay’s Rebellion. Although news of this rebellion spread to other states and beyond (Thomas Jefferson heard about it in France), the stage for the rebellion was set only within the state of Massachusetts. The action did not spread to northern states. However, some of the members of the Shay’s

He wanted the people to stay under control, because he knew that the state of the nation was fragile. He understood that unruly armed farmers threatening the new government could result in anarchy or a military dictatorship. George Washington did not want everything he fought for to turn into that. Even when a similar situation of agitated soldiers, better trained than Shay’s group of farmers, wanting to engage in a military coup arose and Washington could have gained dictatorial powers, Washington shut it down. Washington also warned that this rebellion was an embarrassment to the new nation and seemed to support the nation’s enemies across the sea’s theory that the people are unfit to govern themselves. Washington’s alarm and disapproval was so great that the events of Shay’s Rebellion convinced him to come out of retirement. Other elite figures saw Shay’s Rebellion in a similar light to Washington’s opinion. They saw it as a call for a stronger central government. Thomas Jefferson was one of the few elite figures who did not object to Shay’s Rebellion saying “I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” Overall, Washington and other elite figures did not support Shay’s Rebellion. Therefore B must be

From 1781 up until the before the end of Shay’s Rebellion in 1787, dear of a strong central government dominated the states. The rebellion changed that and Federalists like Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay saw that as an opportunity to rally support for a new constitution. Though the people were still weary of the powers of a strong central government, Shay’s Rebellion convinced them to set aside their previous fear and hear the arguments for a new