USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Thomas Jefferson did not directly support Shays’ Rebellion, but believed that such domestic disturbances were natural, probably inevitable, and perhaps even beneficial. Jefferson was in Paris during the rebellion, and his knowledge of the Rebellion came from his friend, James Madison.

Detailed explanation-2: -Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd President of the United States and the main writer of the Declaration of Independence. During Shays’ Rebellion he had a different reaction than George Washington. Where Washington reacted with fear and a call for a more centralized government, Jefferson almost embraced the rebellion.

Detailed explanation-3: -The words “I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing” are found in a letter he wrote to a friend in early 1788 while he was the US Ambassador to France. Jefferson wasn’t referring to anything happening in Paris-he was talking about Massachusetts, and the event now known as ‘Shays’ Rebellion’.