Every single year, day, minute and even second of history is defined by rebellion and disobedience. The development can be carried out by working against the norm and defying one’s rules. Oscar Wilde, an Irish author, proclaimed this idea of disobedience and rebellion leading to advances in history in 1891. This is how this country was established, through years and years of progress was created from disobedience and one monumental war. This theory is likewise what contributed to the foundation and stability of our country. It even happened in later years with a march and passive, civil unrest on the other side of the world. Through instances of revolts, revolution and passive violence, Wilde's perception of disobedience leading to growth in …show more content…
Going from inadequate leadership to a strong, sturdy, unbreakable documents that have been the foundation of our country for more than two generations. Shays’ rebellion helped shape America and its Constitution. The rebellion was a group of veterans and farmers against the tax collections and the benefits that were presumed to be given to them. Usually when a group of farmers can lead an effective uprising, then the government isn't powerful enough. Others contradict ordinary beliefs that Shay’s Rebellion didn’t change anything, the Articles of Confederation would be able to lead our country with no complication. However, they neglect to acknowledge the fact that the issues were shown through the disobedience of the …show more content…
Which is shown, with the creation of one of our country’s most recognizable documents, causing us to be stable and strong, the Constitution because of Shays’ Rebellion. Passive violence and rebellion contribute to his theory with Gandhi's Salt March leading to India’s Independence. This country was even founded through continuous rebellion and revolt which ultimately lead to disassociation with Britain. His theory has been shown in history and can be shown in the future if slight acts of disobedience are carried out then the world can develop into a further advanced
The unpredictable failure of the Articles of Confederation to the continental congress was a huge problem. The Articles of Confederation was made so the states would have more power, And limit the powers of the national government. Main contributors for this action was the fear that the national government will gain too much power and overstep its authority.This would have a negative effect on the nation, because tensions will start to rise for the ineffectiveness of this new system of government. A Rebellion best known as Shays rebellion, took place shortly after The adoption of the Articles of Confederation. The states, in which shays rebellion has taken place, were becoming unjust/unfair the way in which the state collected taxes. Since the Articles of Confederation was a complete failure
The reason that Shays’ led Shays’ rebellion is because that poor farmers could not pay their debts and the government kept on raising taxes so more people were put into to debtors prison. That caused problems with the farmers causing Shays’ Rebellion. Those are also some reasons that Daniel Shays’ had his rebellion which had been caused to solve those problems but had also shown the weakness of the articles of confederation
In the Summer of 1787, fifty-five delegates representing 12 out of the 13 states in Philadelphia to fix the Articles of Confederation. They met in philadelphia because the Articles of Confederation was too weak. Shay’s rebellion was the end of the Articles of Confederation bringing down the whole network calling for a change of government. They did this to prevent a tyrant or tyranny. A tyrant/tyranny is when someone or a group abuses their power. The Constitution guarded against tyranny through Federalism, Separation of powers, Checks and Balances, and The Great Compromise.
Although not widely known, Shays’s Rebellion greatly impacted the debate on sovereignty and led many to conclude that the only possible solution was the centralization of power in a national authority. Historian John Garraty notes, “The lessons became plain: Liberty must not become an excuse for license; and therefore greater authority must be vested in the central government.”[1] While this effect was not the “rebels’” intended goal, Shays’s Rebellion helped shape the construction of the U.S. Constitution and the American political thought that has since followed. An analysis of both the causes and effects of Shays’s Rebellion highlights its contribution to the demise of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the Constitution.
After claiming independence from Great Britain, America had a tremulous start with thirteen states governing themselves using the Articles of Confederation and therefore not united under one whole government that set and regulated tax and commerce. With the states usually arguing and not providing financial support to the government, Shay’s Rebellion had begun in Massachusetts, urged by farmers, in protest of the tax collections and economic chaos. Without the political unrest caused by that one event, the future of America would have turned out differently; it would likely have been that the states would have plunged into massive debt and lost the freedoms achieved after the American Revolution. Afterwards, people had urged the creation of an effective government to support them, thus creating the Constitutional Convention. At the Convention, fifty-five delega...
The year of 1776 was a time of revolution, independence, and patriotism. American colonists had severed their umbilical cord to the Mother Country and declared themselves “Free and Independent States”.1 The chains of monarchy had been thrown off and a new government was formed. Shying away from a totalitarian government, the Second Continental Congress drafted a document called the Articles of Confederation which established a loose union of the states. It was an attempt at self-government that ended in failure. The Articles of Confederation had many defects which included a weak central government that lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, required equal representation and a unanimous vote to amend the Articles, and had only a legislative branch. As a result the United States lacked respect from foreign countries. These flaws were so severe that a new government had to be drafted and as a result the Constitution was born. This document remedied the weak points of the federal government and created one that was strong and fair, yet still governed by the people.
Shay’s Rebellion’s biggest impact on America is that it influenced a change in The Articles of Confederation, which led to the Constitution. The Constitution is what the United States is and its government are centered around. Shays’s Rebellion caused a sense of urgency to do something about the growing movement to form a new constitution for the nation. According to Thomas
If it had not been for debtors and farmers rising up against the government we may very well have ended up with a totally different nation than the one we have today. If they had kept quiet and not risen up we might have not found out about the weakness of our national government and its inability to protect the peace until it was too late. Without that strong unification this country may have fallen to pieces during the Civil War. During the World Wars any country may have even been able to invade and crush this country completely. We’ve had a strong country and military that has kept up going through all of those wars and threats and Shay’s Rebellion was a defining event that pushed us to gain that unity and strength.
The novel A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution by Carol Berkin describes the problems and struggles America faced after they gained independence from Britain in the late 1700s. The novel begins by describing the many problems American’s the founding fathers faced. The aftermath of the Revolution left the country in economic crisis because America had no way to repay debts from the war. The boiling point is highlighted in chapter one, on August 1786 when the infamous Shays Rebellion occurred because farmers believed “the government… had turned its back on the people-and the people no longer owed such a government any loyal (26).” Farmers involved in the rebellion blocked courthouses so the government could not take over
The Articles of Confederation was the first government of the United States. The Articles had created a very weak national government. At the time the Articles were approved, they had served the will of the people. Americans had just fought a war to get freedom from a great national authority--King George III (Patterson 34). But after this government was put to use, it was evident that it was not going to keep peace between the states. The conflicts got so frequent and malicious that George Washington wondered if the “United” States should be called a Union (Patterson 35). Shays’ Rebellion finally made it evident to the public that the government needed a change.
Despite the belief that fighting with violence is effective, civil disobedience has been tried throughout history and been successful. Fighting violence with violence leaves no oppertunity for peace to work. By refusing to fight back violently, Martin Luther King Jr. took a race of people, taught them the value of their voice, and they earned the right to vote. Henry David Thoreau presented his doctrine that no man should cooperate with laws that are unjust, but, he must be willing to accept the punishment society sets for breaking those laws, and hundreds of years later, people are still inspired by his words. Mohandas K. Gandhi lead an entire country to its freedom, using only his morals and faith to guide him, as well as those who followed him, proving that one man can make a difference. Civil disobedience is the single tool that any person can use to fight for what they want, and they will be heard. After centuries of questioning it, it appears that the pen truly is mightier than the sword.
In the past in this country, Thoreau wrote an essay on Civil disobedience saying that people make the law and have a right to disobey unjust laws, to try and get those laws changed.
Gandhi’s implementation for the Salt March was the result of British colonization of India, which had caused a change in the lifestyle of the Indians. In 1975 when the East India Company established manufacturing monopolies, which assisted the British to exercise their powers over the salt facilities in India by applying salt taxes. As the British occupied the salt works, the Indian population became deprived of one of the most important resources. Thus, the Indians in nation began to fall apart, because the strict British ruling restricted the Indians to perform against the salt taxes. The Salt March was a way that Gandhi sought to inspire a strong uniformity in the minds of the many. These Indians soon adapted to Gandhi’s nonviolent belief and became known as the satyagrahis, w...
----- "Civil Disobedience" from A World of Ideas - Essential Readings for College Readers, Lee A. Jacobus, Bedford Books, 1998, 1849(123 -146)
Oscar Wilde was born in October 16, 1854, in the mid era of the Victorian period—which was when Queen Victoria ruled. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901.While she ruined Britain, the nation rise than never before, and no one thought that she was capable of doing that. “The Victorian era was both good and bad due to the rise and fall of the empires and many pointless wars were fought. During that time, culture and technology improved greatly” (Anne Shepherd, “Overview of the Victorian Era”). During this time period of English, England was facing countless major changes, in the way people lived and thought during this era. Today, Victorian society is mostly known as practicing strict religious or moral behavior, authoritarian, preoccupied with the way they look and being respectable. They were extremely harsh in discipline and order at all times. Determination became a usual Victorian quality, and was part of Victorian lifestyle such as religion, literature and human behavior. However, Victorian has its perks, for example they were biased, contradictory, pretense, they cared a lot of about what economic or social rank a person is, and people were not allowed to express their sexuality. Oscar Wilde was seen as an icon of the Victorian age. In his plays and writings, he uses wit, intelligence and humor. Because of his sexuality he suffered substantially the humiliation and embarrassment of imprisonment. He was married and had an affair with a man, which back then was an act of vulgarity and grossness. But, that was not what Oscar Wilde was only known for; he is remembered for criticizing the social life of the Victorian era, his wit and his amazing skills of writing. Oscar Wilde poem “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” typifies the Vi...