What Is The Difference Between Shay's Rebellion And The Whiskey Rebellion

In the years both before and during America’s war for independence, America was able to prove it could stand for what it believed in. The First Great Awakening showed that Americans had their own religious beliefs and those beliefs affected how they wanted their government run, which was in a more democratic way. After the French and Indian war in 1763, colonists fully believed in their right for freedom from Britain. They were able to prove that they were willing to fight for their freedom as seen in the rebellions in response to the unfair treatment of the sugar, stamp, and tea acts. Even the Revolutionary war was America’s largest fight against Britain for their own government and ideals.
Although America was able to prove itself, its ideals and its government were tested by constant rebellions of its own people. These rebellions questioned whether or not the government was actually capable of

resolving issues within its own country. However, not only did it question its stability, it questioned whether or not the government was a true democracy, one that depended on and listened to the voice of its people. Many of the revolts were the result of the farmers and lower class not being treated as fairly as the upper and middle classes. Most of the heavy taxes and burdens fell on them, and they were underrepresented.
Shay’s rebellion and the Whiskey rebellion both occured because of taxes passed that were unfair to farmers and frontiersmen.

Before Shay’s rebellion, the government levied high taxes that were to pay off the debts from war. The upper class had no problem paying the taxes, but the less fortunate however, struggled to meet the increasingly high demands. Consequently, farms and homesteads were foreclosed by banks. When the state legislature offered no help to the poor and did not ease up, rebellions broke out in the agricultural counties. The Whiskey rebellion was the result of the tax placed on the precious drink. The farmers made most of their money off of selling whiskey, so it was not surprising when the taxation was accused of being a scheme to pick the pockets of the poor. When the rebellion broke out in 1794, President Washington sent out troops to put an end to the uproar. The ultimate result of these two rebellions were farmers were finally able to take a stand for themselves and the government showed that it could handle and solve its internal

problems.
The March of the Paxton Boys and the Regulators Movement were both the result of the poorer colonists being underrepresented, and not having a proper say in their government. Those who participated in the March felt as though they did not hold as much political power as their fellow countrymen in the East. The colonists in the East did not want to kick the Indians off of their own land, so when they refused to form a militia to fight them off, the westerners took matters into their own hands and began to slaughter the Indians. They then began to march to Philadelphia before they were stopped by a delegation and convinced not to attack by reaching an agreement for them to have more representation in the government. The Regulators Movement was arranged by a group of farmers around 1764, who also felt they were unfairly taxed and underrepresented. They desired to regulate their own political affairs and created petitions and even resulted to violence to have their opinions heard. Eventually, the Circuit Court Act of 1769 created the desired court districts, and the Regulators disbanded.
Ultimately, all four of these rebellions showed the need for improvement of America’s government. It questioned how stable our government was, if it was too weak, too strong, it questioned the Articles of Confederation, and it questioned our democratic views. All of this however, did lead to the improvement of our governing system, and added consideration for the poor and the farmers who were finally able to have a say in things.