These letters were written during Shays’ Rebellion (1786-1787), which took place in Massachusetts following the Revolutionary War, when new taxes and the devaluation of currency left many farmers destitute and facing foreclosures. In one letter, Regulator (anti-government) leader Daniel Shays requested of General William Shepard (who commanded the local militia) that dead and wounded Regulators be sent to Shays under the flag of truce so that they could be tended to or buried. If Shepard refused, then Shays wanted a list of their names. In another letter Shays stated that his people were willing to lay down their arms if a general pardon was granted. They would return to their homes to await word from the General Court in regard to their complaints.
William Butler began publication of the Hampshire Gazette on September 6, 1786, in Northampton, Massachusetts. The mission of the newspaper was to inform the public about the issues pertaining to the ongoing conflicts. Butler was decidedly on the government side of the issues.
