Shays' Rebellion was a series of armed protests staged in 1786 by farmers in western Massachusetts against repressive debt and property tax collection practices. The farmers were aggrieved by excessive Massachusetts property taxes and penalties ranging from the foreclosure of their farms to lengthy prison terms.
What Caused Shays' Rebellion? The farmers who fought in the Revolutionary War had received little compensation, and by the 1780s many were struggling to make ends meet. Businesses in Boston and elsewhere demanded immediate payment for goods that farmers had previously bought on credit and often paid off through barter.
