Rebellion in the Early Republic - A Constitution Shaped by Revolt | 2

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 March 2020

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Tensions reached a climax in the freezing winter of 1787, as Daniel Shays and 1,500 rebel soldiers stormed the federal arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts. The rebels hoped to seize arms and ammunition and burn Boston to the ground. What they didn’t know was that a government army awaited them, setting off a dogged chase in the winter snow that lasted weeks.

The farmers’ revolt reverberated far beyond Massachusetts. Shays’s Rebellion stunned America’s political elite, even drawing a horrified George Washington out of retirement to return to public life. The uprising helped convince the nation’s power brokers to throw out the Articles of Confederation and devise a new Constitution. They were determined to create a strong federal government, one that they hoped could withstand domestic rebellion. But their efforts sparked a bitter dispute about the role of government in the new Republic.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon Music,
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0:09.0	Imagine is the late afternoon of January 25, 1787 at the local Federal Armory in Springfield,
0:25.0	Massachusetts.
0:26.0	You are freezing and the winter light is fading fast.
0:29.0	Your breath is still ragged after helping haul two cannons into position.
0:33.0	You're a student back east, not a soldier. You've never seen battle before.
0:37.0	But today you're standing alongside 1200 militiamen.
0:41.0	There's a quiet suspense in the air. Rebel forces are on their way, and they have no idea there's an army waiting for them.
0:48.0	You catch some movement on the horizon and turn to the soldier next to you and experience gunner a man's cannon.
0:54.0	You see that? It's gotta be more than a thousand of them, maybe 1500.
0:59.0	The gunner turns to you and smirks.
1:01.0	That's already looking bunch. No. There are no match for us. Look at them stumbling in the snow.
1:08.0	I don't know. What are you, one of the boss in recruits?
1:11.0	Guess with all your books, you haven't learned much about battle, have you?
1:15.0	You shrug and look back at the rebels, who've stopped a hundred yards away.
1:19.0	They're getting closer.
1:21.0	Yeah, well look, some of them are only carrying sticks.
1:25.0	Guys, no wonder they want to capture the armored.
1:27.0	An aide to General Shepherd rides halfway across the field to face the rebel ranks.
1:32.0	He cries out a warning, but you can't really hear.
1:35.0	What did he say? He said, if they advance, we're gonna fire.
	...

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