Daniel Shays

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Daniel Shays (c. 1747 - September 29, 1825) was a former captain in the American Revolutionary War. He led a small army of farmers in Shays' Rebellion, a revolt against the state government of Massachusetts from 1786-1787, and a seminal event in the history of the early United States. Many historians see the Rebellion as a major factor in the abandonment of the Articles of Confederation), the adaption of the United States Constitution, and the creation of the Federal government of the United States.

Little is known of his early life; he was probably born poor in Hopkinton, Massachusetts to Patrick Shay (spelled without the s) and Margaret Dempsey. He married Abigail Gilbert on July 18, 1772 in Brookfield, Massachusetts. In 1777, he was commissioned as a captain in the 5th Massachusetts Regiment and he participated in the battles of Bunker Hill, Ticonderoga, Saratoga and Stony Point. His service record was notable, and he was awarded a ceremonial sword by the Marquis de Lafayette at the end of the war for distinguished service.

After retiring from the army in 1780, Shays settled in Pelham, Massachusetts, where he served in several local government positions. Economic conditions in the U.S., especially Western Massachusetts, began a serious decline and by 1786 Shays became one of several who took command of units of rebels. The uprising soon became known as the "Shays Rebellion" after an encounter between a force of about 800 farmers under Shays, and a private militia unit of roughly the same size, at Springfield on September 26, 1786. Four men were killed David P. Szatmary, Shays' Rebellion: The Making of an Agrarian Insurrection, p. 102: "In desperation the militiamen then aimed two cannons directly at the rebels and fired fourteen or fifteen rounds of grapeshot into their ranks. When the smoke cleared, the blood of four dead and twenty wounded farmers stained the snow-covered ground around the arsenal as the bulk of the farmers retreated from Springfield to nearby towns."- the first casualties of the rebellion - and many were wounded. Shays and his men were trying to prevent the Massachusetts Supreme Court from convening, fearing indictments against farmers in arrears.

By the winter of 1786-1787 there was open fighting between government forces and rebels. After several skirmishes, Shays and his men were defeated at Petersham, Massachusetts on February 2, 1787. Shays then fled to the Vermont Republic. Condemned to death in absentia on a charge of treason, Shays petitioned for amnesty in February 1788, and the petition was granted by John Hancock on June 13. Shays then relocated to New York.

Shays was later granted a $20 monthly pension by the federal government for his Revolutionary War service. He maintained for the rest of his life that his service in the Revolution and his fighting during the rebellion were for the exact same principles. He died impoverished in Sparta, New York and is buried in Springwater. During his life, he never allowed a portrait of him to be made, so it is unknown what he looked like.

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