Early American Rebellions

1. What is a rebellion? 2. How is a rebellion different than a

protest?3. When should people protest?4. When should people rebel?

• Many early Americans engaged in rebellion to express their displeasure with the government.

Power of the Government Grows

•Daniel Shays was a veteran of the American Revolution.

– He owed a great amount of debt.–Other small farmers could not pay their debts plus the new taxes.

Shay’s Rebellion• 1787: A group of

1,200 farmers led by Daniel Shay took an arsenal of weapons. They wanted to close the courts so the government could not foreclose on their farms.

• State Militia put down the revolt

Shay’s Importance

The rebellion…

• …proved that something was wrong in the new country.

• …provoked Congress & President Washington to wonder if their policies would allow the United States to be successful for a long time.

Federal Government in Debt

• Secretary of the Treasury Department, Alexander Hamilton, wanted to increase revenue for the United States.

–Congress passed a sales tax on the manufacture of Whiskey, which made Whiskey producers angry.

Cause of Anger

• Whiskey was the Appalachian region’s source of cash. –Whiskey producers were poor small

farmers.

–Corn, used to make the whiskey, was already hard to transport over the mountains.

The Whiskey Rebellion• 1794:

Pennsylvanian farmers refused to pay the whiskey tax. – Violent fights

between the farmers and federal marshals broke out.

– President Washington ordered 15,000 militiamen to put down the revolt.

Whiskey Rebellion Importance

• The 1st time that the Federal Government used its power to deal with domestic (inside the country) affairs.

–Gave the Federal Government power over states’ in the Union.

A Fugitive Takes the Lead• 1825: Nat Turner, a slave, fled

his owner’s plantation after a severe beating.

• Instead of going North he stayed in the South, Virginia, and preached to slaves and freemen about a rebellion.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion1831: Nat Turner & 50 followers

attacked 4 plantations.• 70 whites killed• Plantation owner and workers executed 16 members of the revolt.

• Turner was hunted down & hung.

• Whites killed 200+ innocent blacks.

Turner’s Rebellion Importance• Harder to ignore anger toward the slave-

plantation system.• Whites in the North became increasingly aware

of slavery’s brutality in the South.• Southern plantation owners increasingly afraid.• Abolition movement grows in the North. • Violence against blacks increases along with

laws restricting blacks’ rights.

Were any of these violent actions justified?

• Yes, because… • No, because…