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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