Trade routes to market were cut off by war, either water ways or roads. Farmers could not plant surpluses because they might not be able to sell the excess and it would just rot on their fields. Herds of cattle and horses were depleted either by the plundering of the British or as provisions for the Continental Army.
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. There was no paper money in circulation and no gold or silver to be accessed by the farmers to settle these debts. At the same time, Massachusetts residents were expected to pay higher taxes than they had ever paid to the British in order to assure that Governor James Bowdoin’s business associates would receive a good return on their investments. With no means to move their crops and make money to pay off debts and taxes, Boston authorities began to arrest the farmers and foreclose on their farms.
