Shays' Rebellion

Shays' Rebellion, uprising in Massachusetts that lasted intermittently from Aug. 1786 to Feb. 1787. At that time the country was suffering a postwar depression, and taxes in Massachusetts were very high and unequally levied. After the legislature ignored local petitions for tax reductions, an easing of legal action against debtors, a halt to mortgage foreclosures, and a proposal to inflate currency by printing paper money, many rebelled. Led by Daniel Shays, they threatened several local courthouses and forced them to close, attempted to capture a state armory, and resisted the state militia until a final defeat by Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln on Feb. 2. Shays escaped and was later pardoned. The uprising led to some of the reforms that farmers had demanded. It also helped bring about the Constitutional Convention of 1787 by pointing up the need for a strong national government and army, because many of the local militia had either deserted to the rebels or refused to fight them.

See also: Annapolis Convention.