Shays' Rebellion to Problems in the West
Shays’ Rebellion, 1786-7
- resistance to taxes/foreclosure * occasional violence
- august 1786, western Massachussetts militiamen block county courts to prevent foreclosures * elite MA creditors claimed property and republican government were under attack * continental army veteran daniel shays becomes reluctant figurehead * 4400 state volunteers (funded by creditors) defeated rebels early 1786
- several states passed debtor relief measures to prevent similar violence * conservative elites anxious * feared Revolution was going too far * state governments becoming too democratic
Post-War Foreign Trade
- britain banned US goods and flooded US markets
- 300% US trade deficit in mid-1780s
- few other markets were available
- government was too weak to respond
Problems in the West
- “public domain” land in the trans-Appalachian west * US governments biggest asset * greatest danger too
- several problems: * state territorial claims * squatters and speculators * native power * neighboring rival empires * ongoing violence
- US government was too weak to control
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