After The United States won the war against the British government, there was need of a new constitution and this is when the Articles of Confederation was written.  Due to the fears of central authority and not being able to reach its services to the people, it was stated under these articles that the states remain sovereign and independent with congress serving as last appeal in case of a dispute.  The central government was given little powers over the states in the constitution as it lacked power to levy taxes and regulate commerce. This left the central government with little powers over the states and an impossible duty to protect the states against attacks as it did not have enough funds to pay the soldiers and other services.

In the years following the war, the hopes of the masses were betrayed. As a result, there were many popular movements and uprisings. But none had as big an impact on the psychology of the ruling class and the future structure of the U.S. government as Shays’ Rebellion which some have called “The American Revolution’s Final Battle” (Peterson). This took place in the state of Massachusetts caused by the following factors: a credit squeeze caused by lack of hard currency, financial difficulties brought about by a post-war economic depression and fiscally harsh government policies instituted to solve the state’s debt problem.

Alexander Hamilton believed that the inability of the national government to shoulder the nation’s war debt destabilized the individual states by forcing them to design unrealistic and burdensome tax policies. He tried unsuccessfully to change the articles of confederation and replace them with a stronger federal plan of government.  Daniel Shays’ rebellion which took place in Central and Western Massachusetts in 1786 – 1787 could not have come a better time since it showed that the central government was weak as it could not deal with the rebellion.  According to Jefferson: “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” (qtd. in Peterson). A government needed to be reminded of its duties and people’s rights were to be protected. This would portray that a government was strong and would be respected.

To Hamilton the rebellion helped convince people and other states that there was need to redraft the constitution and make the central government powerful so as to curb such rebellions in future and the government takes up its duties in clearing the war debt rather than leaving it to individual states.  Peoples’ rights and freedom would be respected and no blood would be shed again and that’s what Jefferson wanted and it became possible during the drafting of the new constitution.

Shays rebellion also threatened a particular group that controlled the economic and politics of in particular states. This is because it threatened the economy of the United States and particularly the single states. The groups consisted of bankers, merchants, government officials, lawyers and clergy.  After the war, the American economy entered a depression. There was a glut of goods, stockpiled on the basis of high wartime prices, and prices now collapsed. The banks and merchants put the squeeze on the country retailers who owed them for goods received, and the retailers in turn demanded payment of debts from the small farmers (Peterson). Traditionally, the rural population could pay back its debts through barter and this was impossible since the demand now was paper money. This led to land being taken from the farmers who were unable to clear their debts in hard cash which was scarce. This led to a rebellion that would have affected the merchants since their debts would not be cleared and still their businesses would have collapsed. The urban elite also demanded taxes in form of hard currency and by the demand of the farmers to have back barter trade, it would have affected the economy of the state by taking it backwards as business was only conducted in hard cash and this is why the rebellion advocated for introduction of paper money so that it would help them pay off their debts and do business.

The rebellion also affected the political class. According to Peterson, even the most minor reforms couldn’t be tolerated by the ruling class, even if they are in keeping with the existing legislative channels and limits of society. The rulers who comprised Governor Bowdoin would not want to change their ways or bow to any pressure that came from below as they enjoyed the way things were as they were not controlled even by the central government. The rebellion also wanted the closure of the debtors’ court but the creditors would not here as they would not have their way.

In conclusion, Daniel Shays’ Rebellion had a good impact to both the central government and the people according to Hamilton and Jefferson. It greatly contributed to the drafting of a new constitution and brought about good change both economically and politically as opposed to a few people and groups who were against change.

Work Cited

Peterson, John. “Shays’ Rebellion and the American Revolution” In Defence of Marxism       Thursday, 18 February 2010. < http://www.marxist.com/shays-rebellion-and-american-revolution.html>.

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