Shay's Rebellion Activity

The national government under the Articles of Confederation...

• Was very strong

• Was very weak

Why were farmers in Massachusetts so upset in 1786 and 1787?

• The US was getting ready to go to war with France and they'd have to be soldiers again

• The national government kept raising taxes on farmers to pay off the war debt

• They were losing their farms because they could not afford the taxes on them

• No one would buy their crops because they were over priced

Who was Daniel Shays?

• A former American Revolution soldier and a farmer who was worried about losing his farm, so he started a rebellion

• A tax collector from Massachusetts who had to go and collect money from the poor

• He was the Governor of Massachusetts at the time of a huge rebellion by farmers

What did Daniel Shays' and his men do?

• Challenged the US military to a battle under the Constitution

• Took over courthouses by going in armed and refusing to leave

• Paid Native Americans to raid the houses of the wealthy and powerful Bostonians

What did Shays' rebellion reveal about the Articles of Confederation?

• That it was too similar to the British system

• That it was too weak to succeed

• That it was strong and resilient

• That it was a successful model of government

In the fall of 1787, because of Shays' Rebellion, what did government leaders do?

• They decided Massachusetts couldn't be a state anymore

• They allowed all the states to become independent countries

• They met in Philadelphia to fix the Articles of Confederation

• They switched to a French model of government

Where did Shay's Rebellion take place?

• Vermont

• Delaware

• Massachuestes

• New York

Many veterans (soldiers who fought in the Revolution) were angry because...

• They weren't allowed to keep their weapons and had worthless money

• They weren't given much credit for their win

• They did not believe the war ended fairly and they wanted to demand a renegotiation of their IOU's

• They didn't get paid for their service as soldiers in the American Revolution but were given worthless IOU's

Farmers rebelled and shut down the courts because

• they did not want to lose their farms

• they wanted to rewrite the constitution

What did Shays' Rebellion help Americans realize they needed?

• A strong federal government

• A stronger militia

• A common currency

• The ability to sign peace treaties