In what ways did shays’ rebellion reveal the weaknesses of the articles of confederation?

After the War of Independence, the United States had to contend with a high government debt. A lot of money had been printed as a result of which existing funds were greatly reduced in value and the country was in the midst of an economic crisis because it had almost no foreign markets for its products. In the meantime, the various states increased taxes to reduce their own national debt.

The uprising broke out on August 29, 1786, and began with protesters, including many veterans from the War of Independence who closed several courts to counter legal measures for collecting taxes. Governor James Bowdoin condemned the demonstrations, but, unlike the surrounding states where similar events took place, did not directly intervene. Relative to the state government, the protesters radicalized after some of their leaders were imprisoned and began to arm themselves.

As the federal government did not have the financial means to raise an army, the local elite financed their own militia. In January 1887, a hastily assembled private army led by Benjamin Lincoln attacked a group of insurgents in the name of the state of Massachusetts. Four rebels lost their lives. A new attack on the rebels' camp in Petersham, Massachusetts followed on February 4, 1787, causing the rebel army to fall apart. The resistance continued until June of that year, but had no impact after that.

The conflict took place in a background where a revision of the Articles of Confederation was considered very necessary. In May 1787, the Constitutional Convention, which discussed a new constitution, met in Philadelphia. Shays' rebellion affected the course of the debate, although historians disagree on how great that influence was.  

The main discussions took place during the Convention between delegates who wanted more control over the federal government - these were the federalists - and the anti-federalists who mainly wanted the power to fall to the individual states. The uprising in any case made it clear that under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government had too little say in taking action against domestic violence. The authors of the Constitution thought that the federal government could act more effectively in the case of national unrest than the various individual states, and therefore it gained more control under the Constitution. The rebellion may also have influenced the passage that states that one state must extradite a resident for trial when another state requests it.

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