The main cause of shays rebellion were the large amount of debt the farmers were experiencing in the 1780s. Another cause is the lack of economic crisis laws in Massachusetts. Some other causes were because of bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes threating farmers with the loss of their farms.
Farmer's debt in the 1780s exasperated by a lack of laws in Massachusetts designed to protect them during an economic crises. Many farmers were arrested and thrown into debtors prison with no laws to protect them otherwise or arrange a release. Many of these farmers were war veterans, and when it began to spiral out of control Farmers mainly in the West of the State rebelled lest be thrown into prison themselves.
William C. Nell was an African American civic activist, abolitionist, and historian. He was also a founding member of the New England Freedom Association in 1842, a black Boston organization that assisted fugitive slaves in their efforts to gain freedom.
