Eighth Grade: Integrated American History SS080202

Unit 2: Creating a New Government Lesson 2

Commentary on Shays’ Rebellion

George Washington, Letter to James Madison, Nov. 5, 1786

"Let us look to our National character, and to things beyond the present period. No
Morn ever dawned more favourable than ours did - and no day was ever more
clouded than the present! Wisdom, & good examples are necessary at this time to
rescue the political machine from the impending storm."

Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Madison, from Paris, Jan. 30, 1787

"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the
political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally
establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced
them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so
mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a
medicine necessary for the sound health of the government."

Revolutionary Samuel Adams

"Rebellion against a king may be pardoned, or lightly punished, but the man who
dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death.”

Digital Encyclopedia Excerpt of Shays’ Rebellion, Washington’s Mount

Vernon by Rahul Tilva, George Washington University
http://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/shays-rebellion/

“The rebellion called into serious question the state of the country’s finances and
the viability [stability] of the weak national government under the Articles of
Confederation. Shays’ Rebellion accelerated calls to reform the Articles, eventually
resulting in the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. The Convention elected
Washington as its president and ultimately produced the Constitution of the United
States. Thus, in no small way, Shays’ Rebellion contributed to Washington’s return
to public life and the creation of a strong federal government more capable of
addressing the pressing economic and political needs of a new nation.

Michigan Citizenship Collaborative Curriculum Page 13 of 16

Copyright © 2010-2018 Oakland Schools June 8, 2018