Daniel Shays

This image shows a depiction of Shays' Rebellion. In this illustration, government militia soldiers led by General William Shepard fire on protestors led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays known as the Regulators.

In 1787, the Reverend Ezra Stiles, (1727-1795) was the President of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut. A staunch supporter of the American Revolution, Stiles followed with intense interest the growing tension and armed confrontations in nearby Massachusetts.

Although the town of Deerfield sent representatives to county conventions and expressed alarm over the economic distresses afflicting its residents, only a few men joined the thousands of Regulators who took up arms against the state. Instead, the town militia turned out to support the government.…

<p><span class="deck">The battle smoke of the Revolution had scarcely cleared when desperate economic conditions in Massachusetts led former patriots to rise against the government they had created. The fear this event aroused played an important part in shaping the new Constitution of the United States</span></p>