Shays+Rebellion

=Colonial Control=



Shay's Rebellion was a great example of how, though we had overthrown the English Monarchy and won the right to control ourselves, problems still remained. A group of small farmers rose in protest against the new government and the heavy taxes it levied upon the people. The rioters protested high taxations, along with the high governors salary, the cost of the courts, and the governments refusal to issue paper money. The young administration of America desperately needed a way to control its spread-out and extremely different states. They found this in the form of taxes. Americans, being Americans, refused to lay down and pay taxes that they as a people did not have any say in. They rose up, just as there forefathers had done in the Revolution, against a government that they did not believe had the power to levy taxes upon them. This rebellion showed Americans that though they had defeated Britain and won their independance, they had a long way to go before they would become one strong and unified nation.

Post-Revolutionary Control Historical Context