Throughout the late summer and fall of 1786; farmers in central and western Massachusetts organized themselves into armed groups to protest against established authority and aggressive creditors. Calling themselves "regulators" or the "voice of the people;" these crowds attempted to pressure the state government to lower taxes and provide relief to debtors by using some of the same methods employed against British authority a decade earlier. From the perspective of men of wealth and station; these farmers threatened the foundations of society: property rights and their protection in courts and legislature.In this concise and compelling account of the uprising that came to be known as Shays’s Rebellion; Sean Condon describes the economic difficulties facing both private citizens and public officials in newly independent Massachusetts. He explains the state government policy that precipitated the farmers’ revolt; details the machinery of tax and debt collection in the 1780s; and provides readers with a vivid example of how the establishment of a republican form of government shifted the boundaries of dissent and organized protest. Underscoring both the fragility and the resilience of government authority in the nascent republic; the uprising and its aftermath had repercussions far beyond western Massachusetts; ultimately; it shaped the framing and ratification of the U.S. Constitution; which in turn ushered in a new; stronger; and property-friendly federal government. A masterful telling of a complicated story; Shays’s Rebellion is aimed at scholars and students of American history.
#316155 in Books Kagan; Donald 2004-04-27 2004-04-27Format: Deckle EdgeOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.40 x 1.10 x 5.50l; 1.00 #File Name: 0142004375544 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Better than fiction - Can't wait for Kindle versionBy E. MontalbanThis book is amazing. The story underlying it is amazing; and the writing is superb - clear; flowing; and with appropriate detail and connections drawn.If you appreciate history you may be amazed at some of the events that are so epic; morally significant; and poetic as to sound far-fetched. The plot is quite thick at times. If you really can only read non-stop action pulp fiction; you probably aren't reading this review anyway; but this may come as close as you can get in non-fiction.I wish someone would make a movie with the same sensibility; it would be an instant classic. I also wish this book would come out on Kindle so one could search and highlight it. There are a lot of classic elements to this story; in every sense of the word. It's so good I want to read his four-volume treatment to see what I missed.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. STUDYING HISTORY ALWAYS WORTHSBy LUIS BARCENASDonald Kagan did a great job; accurately merging description and strategic analysis. The only week point is that maps are a little bit to simplistic; and not always well connected to the events they are supposed to illustarte. Anyway; I assume that this is a cheap edition; and that the strategic analysis and the description of the decission making processess compenste this weakness.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A Great CondensationBy Philip S. TaylorThis is a wonderfully written condensation of a huge; seminal work by Kagan written over a 25 year period. Most of the information was gleaned from the Greek general/historian Thucydides from first hand accounts that are largely unbiased. This piece of history is unique. A must read for those interested in history relating to war and politics.
