Shays: Did you mean...?

Shays' Rebellion (1786-87) was an armed insurrection by rural farmers in western and central Massachusetts, sparked by the state government's unpopular response to a debt crisis. The insurrection reached its climax when the rebels, referred...

Shays' Rebellion leaders Daniel Shays (left) and Job Shattuck, illustration by an unknown artist, 1787. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first frame of government for the United States of America, establishing a weak federal government to protect the sovereignty of the states. Adopted by Congress in 1777, the Articles...

During Shays' Rebellion, the Shaysites flee from Massachusetts militia during their failed assault on the Springfield Armory, on 25 January 1787. Illustration by C. Kendrick, from The People's History of the World, vol. VI by Edward Sylvester...

Shays' Rebellion protestors, sometimes referred to as Shaysites, take down a tax collector, c. 1786-87. Colored version of an illustration from the Popular history of the United States, from the first discovery of the western hemisphere by...

James Bowdoin II, Patriot leader during the American Revolution and Governor of Massachusetts during Shays' Rebellion (1786-87). Portrait by Robert Feke, 1748.

George Washington (1732-1799) was an American military officer and statesman who led the Continental Army to victory during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and served as the first president of the United States (1789-1797). Often...

The American Revolution (1765-1789) was a period of political upheaval in the Thirteen Colonies of British North America. Initially a protest over parliamentary taxes, it blossomed into a rebellion and led, ultimately, to the birth of the...

John Adams (1735-1826) was an American lawyer, statesman, and diplomat who was a prominent leader of the American Revolution (1765-1789) before going on to serve as the first vice president (1789-1797) and second president of the United States...

John Hancock (1737-1793) was a merchant, politician, and Founding Father of the United States, who helped lead the Patriot movement during the American Revolution (1765-1789). He served as president of the Second Continental Congress from...