Today in Labor History August 29, 1786: Shays' Rebellion began in Massachusetts. It was an armed uprising of farmers and tradesmen in response to a debt crisis among the citizenry and in opposition to the state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades. Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels (called Shaysites) in a protest against economic and civil rights injustices. They marched on the federal Armory in Springfield an unsuccessful attempt to seize its weaponry and overthrow the government. The Federal Government, still young and weak, was unable to finance sufficient troops to put down the rebellion. Consequently, it was the Massachusetts State Militia that ultimately quashed the uprising, over 5 months later. Despite the duration and violence of the uprising, only 9 people died.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #shays #rebellion #uprising #massachusetts #insurrection

Today in Labor History January 25, 1787: Daniel Shays and 800 followers marched to Springfield, Massachusetts to seize the Federal arsenal during Shays’ Rebellion. The Massachusetts State militia ultimately defeated them. They were trying to end the imprisonment of farmers for debts, confiscation of their lands and other attempts by the wealthy to make the poor pay for the Revolutionary War. The authorities convicted and hanged many of Shays’ followers for treason. Shays, himself, fled to Vermont. He eventually won a pardon. The U.S. Constitution, written in the wake of Shays’ rebellion, was designed in part to prevent other similar uprisings by the common people against slave owners, bankers, landlords and businessmen.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #shays #rebellion #landlords #bankers #slavery#prison #treason