“The History of the Insurrections in Massachusetts in the year seventeen hundred and eighty six and the Rebellion”

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From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information


About this item

This complex piece, written in the flowery, wordy prose of the 19th century, traces the causes of Shays’ Rebellion, which took place in Massachusetts in 1786-1787. Many of the men, along with the Commonwealth itself, were deeply in debt during and following the American Revolution. Former soldiers, especially those in the Western Massachusetts counties of Berkshire and Hampshire, had spent nine years defending their liberties. Now they were being asked to settle local debts and to pay taxes to the Commonwealth with money they did not have. Reacting to authority, they banded together in August of 1786, and closed the courts in Northampton. Within weeks mobs had shut down courts in five Massachusetts counties. However, it took General Benjamin Lincoln’s army only five months to restore law and order.

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Details

Item typeBooks
AuthorMinot, George
PublisherJames W. Burditt & Co.
Date1810
PlaceBoston, Massachusetts
TopicMilitary, Wars, Battles
Politics, Government, Law, Civics
EraThe New Nation, 1784–1815
EventShays’ Rebellion. 1786–1787
MaterialPaper
Process/FormatPrinting
Dimension detailsProcess Material: printed paper, ink Height: 8.25 in Width: 5.75 in
Catalog #L04.010
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Minot, George. The History of the Insurrections in Massachusetts in the year seventeen hundred and eighty six and the Rebellion. James W. Burditt & Co., 1810. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l04-010/. Accessed on October 10, 2024.

Please note: Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.