Everyone of us citizens has an opinion on the breaching of the Capitol building on the 06 January…..some see it as the legal challenge to the Constitution and others see it as a failed coup attempt by nationalists…..who is wrong or right?

Well that will depend on who you chat with…..but the challenge happened and now it gives me a chance to inject a bit of history.

Was the failed coup attempt of 06 January the first challenge to the government?

Actually o6 January was not the first challenge to the authority of the government….the year is 1786, the place is Massachusetts….

The insurrection was lead by one Daniel Shays after the disorganization in the beginning Shays eventually became the leader of the insurrection.

What was it all about….why were the farmers so damn angry…….

In the aftermath of the American Revolution the new United States faced many challenges and difficulties. Of all the difficulties, Shays’ Rebellion was perhaps the most important.

The Articles of Confederation was the first form of organized federal government the United States employed following independence. The Articles made the federal government extremely weak and left most power to the states.

Nothing highlighted this weakness better than the outbreak of Shays’ Rebellion and the powerlessness of the federal government to respond and react.

Shays’ Rebellion was an organized rebellion of western Massachusetts farmers and countrymen against the state of Massachusetts in 1786-1787. These farmers rebelled against the unjust collection of excessive taxes and seizure of property when taxes went uncollected.

Many of the rebels were disgruntled former Continental army soldiers who went unpaid during the revolution. These poor farmers were now being forced to give up their lands when they could not pay the high taxes imposed on them by the state governments.

After peaceful attempts to come to a resolution were ignored by state leaders primarily from the eastern coastal area, the protesters took more forceful means to protect their interests. Courthouses and state buildings were surrounded and government officials prevented from following through with evictions and arrests.

The federal government was aware of the rebellion and the possibility of an attempt to take weapons from the federal armory in Springfield, MA. It soon found itself powerless to take any action given that it could not raise an army of its own nor levy taxes.

Why Is Shays’ Rebellion Important?

My thought is that this ‘rebellion’ was one reason the 2nd amendment was put into the Bill of Rights…..but that is a whole different conversation.

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Class Dismissed!

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