網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

of the Commonwealth." They also desired the court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace to "be removed in perpetuam rei Memoriam." Extreme measures were now advocated. A convention of fifty towns in the county of Hampshire (August, 1786), after dwelling on the grievances of the time, passed a series of resolutions complaining of taxes, courts, lawyers, and scarcity of money, and asking "to have emitted a bank of paper money, subject to a depreciation," as legal tender in payment of all debts-a pleasant plan whereby it was to be arranged, presumably, that the money should decline by easy stages from par to nothing, in accordance with some predetermined requirements of descent. A man might thus pay, perchance, $4 for a pair of boots in January, $6 the next July, $8 in December, until finally if he wished to buy boots with scrip he must needs draw his money to market in the farm wagon. The acme of this style of reasoning was reached in a petition which declared that the advisable plan was to have a depreciation of a shilling per pound each year; thus the money would "go out of circulation in the term of twenty years." "By the quantity in circulation thus constantly lessening," said the petitioners, "... the credit of the money will be sup

1 Adams, Hist. of Quincy, 264, 265.

'Minot, Hist. of Insur. in Mass., 34-38; see also, for example, resolutions of Middlesex convention, Boston Independent Chronicle, October 19, 1786.

ported." This is not far from saying that if the value of the money could only depreciate by agreement with sufficient rapidity its value would be maintained.

Fantastic as these recommendations were, they were but the prelude to radical acts. A mob took possession of the court-house at Northampton and prevented the sitting of the court. A similar occurrence took place at Worcester. There were likewise uprisings at Taunton and other places. At Concord a band of merchants, headed by Job Shattuck and a man named Smith, paraded the streets in martial order and intimidated the judges into promising that no court should be held. Smith harangued the crowd of spectators, who were too wise or too timid to join the insurgents, declaring that "as Christ laid down his life to save the world," so he would lay down his life "to suppress the government from all triannical oppression." Those who would not fall into the ranks of the rebels were warned that after two hours they would "stand the monuments of God's sparing mercy.' When Job Shattuck took his part in the harangue and announced that the time had come to wipe out debts, some disrespectful auditor shouted out, "Well said, well said, Job, for I know you have bought two farms lately which you can never pay for."

" 3

1 Lunenberg Petition (MS.), in Mass. Archives, Senate Document No. 620, 2; quoted in Warren, Shays's Rebellion (MS.). 'Lincoln, Hist. of Worcester, 134.

'Pa. Packet, September 23, 1786. McMaster, United States, I., 308, 309.

There were next serious uprisings in the western part of the state. At Great Barrington the jails were broken open, the courts were prevented from sitting, and all but one of the judges compelled to sign a pledge that they would not act until the grievances of the people were redressed. Later in the year even greater outrages were perpetrated, law-abiding citizens were hounded out of town, houses were searched, citizens were fired on.1

The condition was now nothing short of civil war. Fortunately the governor, James Bowdoin, was no demagogue. He had already spoken in clear tones, and he was determined, if possible, to protect the courts and keep the peace. At Springfield bloodshed was narrowly avoided. The court was protected by the militia; but a mob of one thousand men with sundry arms and implements of war paraded the street under the leadership of Daniel Shays, a man of no great caliber, who had seen service in the continental army, and now looked for new fame as the leader of a popular uprising.

The situation was not materially improved by the acts and resolves of the general court, which now met at Boston. The governor was supported in his vigorous measures to sustain the courts and protect property; but there were members in the house who had much sympathy with the rioters and preferred soft words to strenuous action. A vote was

1 Minot, Hist. of Insur. in Mass., 44-50; Holland, Hist. of Western Mass., I., 244–248; Diary of William Pynchon, 249.

passed granting pardon to all who within a given time would take the oath of allegiance.1 An address was issued to the people, showing that the whole annual expense of the government averaged only £18,109, and did not amount to sixteen pence per ratable poll. Certain stringent measures were enacted, and others for the relief of the people, but the tone of the legislature was not decisive; the rioting continued in various parts of the state, and after the adjournment of the legislature in November there was even more turbulence than before.

The time for promises and parleyings was, in fact, long since passed. Nothing would now tell but force, and Bowdoin was not loath to use it. A riot again occurred at Worcester,3 and the court was once more prevented from holding its sessions. But when disturbances were threatened at Concord a company of cavalry was sent out against the rebels, and it captured the ringleaders, including the redoubtable Job Shattuck. Despite the cold of December weather and heavy snow, an army under Shays was gathering at Worcester and seemed to be threatening to attack Cambridge. When steps were taken to protect the city the rebels instead of advancing began a disorderly retreat. The cold 1 Acts and Laws of Mass., 1786-1787, chap. xv., November 15, 1786.

? Minot, Hist. of Insur. in Mass., 68; Boston Mag., III., 435. 'Mass. Centinel, November 29, 1786. See Bowdoin's speech of February 3, 1787, ibid., February 7.

was intense,1 the snow deep, there was a scarcity of provisions, and the insurgents suffered severely, some dying from exposure. This did not end the rebellion, however, and an army of four thousand four hundred men was now raised and put under the command of General Lincoln. So empty was the treasury that funds for the support of the troops had to be furnished by voluntary loans from wealthy citizens of Boston and other towns."

The centre of the trouble was now shifted to Springfield, where an army of rebels commanded by Shays, Eli Parsons, and Luke Day was posted. Before Lincoln could reach the town an attack on the arsenal was beaten back by the militia under General Shepard. On On Lincoln's arrival Shays retreated with his forces in great disorder. Lincoln pursued relentlessly. Negotiations begun by the rebels for a time delayed him at Hadley; but discovering that negotiations were only a pretence and that Shays had moved on to Petersham, he set out from Hadley in pursuit, and, not deterred by cutting winds, deep snow, and bitter cold, his soldiers marched thirty miles in a single night and utterly routed the rebel army. The most painful results of civil conflict followed. Little

1 Mass. Centinel, December 13, 1786.

'Higginson to Knox, Amer. Hist. Assoc., Report, 1896, I., 744; Minot, Hist. of Insur. in Mass., 93, 94.

3 Mass. Centinel, January 31, 1787.

See for this, letter of E. Whitney in Cutler, Cutler, I., 197-200; Mass. Centinel, February 3 and 7, 1787.

« 上一頁繼續 »