USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Overview. In August 1786, Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led an armed rebellion in Springfield, Massachusetts to protest what he perceived as the unjust economic policies and political corruption of the Massachusetts state legislature.

Detailed explanation-2: -Shays’ Rebellion was an armed uprising in Western Massachusetts and Worcester 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.

Detailed explanation-3: -James Bowdoin, the governor of Massachusetts, was clearly in the latter group. He organized a military force funded by eastern merchants, to confront the rebels. This armed force crushed the movement in the winter of 1786-1787 as the Shaysites quickly fell apart when faced with a strong army organized by the state.

Detailed explanation-4: -Why did the Massachusetts militia have the power to confront the federal government in Shays’ Rebellion? The federal government had no military of its own to fight back and could not enforce laws. The state of Massachusetts had a militia of 10, 000 men while the federal government only had a military of 1, 000.