The Whiskey and Shay’s Rebellions Homework Help

The Whiskey and Shay’s Rebellions

When Revolution Hits Home: The causes and effects of the whiskey and Shays’ rebellion
There are those people that feel some taxes imposed on them are not warranted. These ideas shared by many individuals in a society could lead to an uprising. The Whiskey and the Shay’s rebellions both occurred in the same manner. The Whiskey rebellion saw an uprising from the tax payer’s dissatisfaction with the government’s unfair imposition of a whiskey tax. Western Massachusetts was hit by a wave of farm foreclosures uprising against a number of grievances including taxation.
The Whiskey and Shay’s Rebellions
The Whiskey rebellion began in Four Western Pennsylvania counties when they effused to pay an excise tax on whiskey (Rothbard pr. 4). The Secretary of treasury, Alexander Hamilton, had proposed this tax in the assumption of the various states’ public debts (Slaughter 56). Western Pennsylvanians decided not to pay this tax and as the government continued to press for the cooperation of the citizens in paying this tax, protests and demonstrations arose. When the matter escalated to a point of roughing up of tax collectors, the then president, George Washington, called up and led a 13, 000-man army to suppress the insurrection (Rothbard pr. 5).
However, the idea of four countries resisting to pay the tax is a popular view and it is contended that the entire American ‘back-country’ did not pay tax on whiskey. This rebellion is similar to the revolution since the taxes are a major cause and initial resistance did not involve violence. A group of farmers that had lost their farmers as a result of mortgage foreclosures and tax delinquencies were led by a revolutionary war veteran known as Daniel Shays in rebelling against the Massachusetts state legislature. The rebellion did not start with violence but rather involved meetings carried out in Boston and petitions to Massachusetts government.
The escalation of the uprising came about after the Supreme Court ruled that eleven members of the movement were seditious, riotous and disorderly (Shay’s rebellion pr. 2). It is at this point that Shays raised an Army to march in protest. This rebellion differs a little from the revolution as the causes are many but they both started out without violence.
Causes and Outcomes of the rebellions
The main cause of Whiskey’s rebellion was Alexander Hamilton’s financial program which required an excise tax to be paid on whiskey (Whiskey Insurrection/rebellion pr. 7). The back-country farmers considered this tax to violate their right to life, liberty and property. Another cause that had been building up dissatisfaction among the citizens was the profitability of whiskey. Also whiskey began to be used by poor farmers as a form of currency due to the inflammatory trends from states printing paper. The Revolutionary war debts led the federal government to pass taxes in order to repay the debts. These taxes were an extra burden to the farmers who were already paying high state taxes. An outcome of the rebellion is that the tax was stopped. Also the government presented a figure of strength and power as it suppressed the insurrection.
The main cause of the Shay’s Rebellion was loss of farms through mortgage foreclosures and tax delinquencies experienced by poor back-country farmers. The Massachusetts state legislature to issue paper money was vehemently opposed by the uprising calling for debtor relief laws. Another cause was the weak central government which did not have enough power to stimulate national economy. Paying the farmers who served in the military in worthless paper money was also another cause as they were nevertheless required to pay state taxes in gold or silver. The other cause was the issuance of paper money by the Massachusetts state legislature in order to pay debts incurred in the revolutionary war. The outcomes of the Shay’s rebellion were the introduction of debtor relief laws by the state legislature and the constitutional convention of 1786.
Impacts of the rebellions on America
The opposition of the federal excise tax program played a part in the emergence of a Democrat-republican Party. The Jeffersonian ‘revolution’ of 1800 was also realized as a result of the whiskey rebellion. Jefferson repealed the whole Federalist excise tax program as part of his revolution in his first term as president. The rebellion also led the government to avoid imposing internal excise taxes on the Americans for a very long time. Other than the War of 1812, internal excise taxes were not imposed until the American constitution was transformed by the North through the centralization of the nation (Hull 110).
The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were exposed as a result of the Shay’s rebellion. The government’s weakness was exposed as it couldn’t control the national economy, coin money, fight for the removal of trade restrictions against the country and control commerce. Due to this exposure, five states met in 1786 with the agenda of revising the articles of confederation. The states decided on a complete overhaul and created the constitution which resulted in a stronger central government. This government was now able to restrain the mob from engaging in violence but limited its power to the liberties of the people.
The rebellions and their significance in the development of the United States
The willingness and ability of the government to enforce its laws was seen in the whiskey rebellion. This willingness and ability was practiced irrespective of its great distance from its center of power. The platform that was set by the government then, continues to be upheld to the present time. True political parties also emerged from the opposition of the federalist excise tax program marking the beginning of the great political debate that is evident even today although not in entirety (Demand Media, pr. 1). The debate was concerned with the American Revolution’s meaning and what being an American truly means.
Shay’s rebellion paved way to the creation of a constitution (U.S Constitution Online pr. 4). This constitution was created during the convention aimed at revising the Articles of Confederation. Revision of the articles of confederation was recommended after the Shay’s rebellion exposed its weaknesses. The constitution addressed most of the issues raised concerning the weaknesses of the government. The rebellion also raised concerns over the reliability of the confederation government to defend its citizens from outside attack. The response to an internal conflict was not as swift as would have been expected therefore it was realized that a strong central government was necessary. The constitution created has been amended and modified over time but America still uses a constitution therefore indicating the importance of the rebellion in shaping the present America.
America in the 1780s and 1790s
These rebellions exposed America in the 1780s and 1790s to be a country with a suffering economy, in debt and with a weak government. Revolutionary war liberalized America but left economic strains in the country (Richards 130). The country was also struggling to implement the laws adopted after the revolution. There was also a very big class difference whereby the poor farmers joined the movement to stop excise tax while wealthy individuals and tax collectors did not understand why the farmers were demonstrating. The government, however, proved stern in its bid to implement the law and suppressed the insurrection.
The 21st century is not immune to such a rebellion. Issues such as the health care reform, cigarette taxes and military occupation of the Middle East have been debated for a very long time. Some demonstrations take place when citizens feel that they are not heard but the demonstrations are peaceful. Shay’s rebellion started out in a similar manner but the Supreme Court ruling that classified eleven of the movement leaders as rioters led to the escalation of the matter. Were the contentious issues in America to escalate, the rebellion would be far greater than in the past due to the improved means of communication which would facilitate swift spreading of word.
Conclusion
The whiskey and Shay’s rebellions came about sometime after the American Revolution. The whiskey revolution was a movement opposing the excise tax imposed by the government and which burdened the farmer enormously. The Shay’s rebellion arose as a result of the farmer’s loss of farms through tax delinquencies and mortgage foreclosures. Both rebellions impacted on the country in different ways at the time of rebellion and in the development of America to the present date.

 
Works Cited
“Causes and Effects of the Whiskey Rebellion”. Demand Media. 2011. 11Oct. 2011 <http://www.essortment.com/causes-effects-whiskey-rebellion-20880.html>
“Events Affecting the Constitution”. U.S Constitution Online. 11Oct. 2011 <http://www.usconstitution.net/events.html>
Hull, Mary E. Shays’ Rebellion and the Constitution in American History. New Jersey: Enslow Publishers. 2000.
“Reasons for Dissension and the Insurrection (Democracy or Aristocracy)”. Whiskey Insurrection/Rebellion. 11Oct. 2011 < http://www.whiskeyrebellion.info/rebell.htm>
Richards, Leonard L. Shays’s Rebellion: The American Revolution’s Final Battle. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.
Rothbard, Murray N. “The Whiskey Rebellion”. Rothbard Murray Archives. 2005. 11Oct. 2011 < http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard1.html>
“Shay’s Rebellion: Wars and battle, 1786-1787”. United States History. 11Oct. 2011 < http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h363.html>
Slaughter, Thomas P. The Whiskey Rebellion: Frontier Epilogue to the American Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.