In response to financial reverses related to the economic depression that began in 1893, the Pullman Palace Car Company, a manufacturer of railroad cars, cut the already low wages of its workers by about 25 percent but did not introduce corresponding reductions in rents and other charges at Pullman, its company town near Chicago, where most Pullman workers lived. As a result, many workers and their families faced starvation.
Although the overall causes of Shay's Rebellion were somewhat complicated, the most direct factor was "high taxes" since many people didn't believe the federal government should tax consumer goods.
