Writings On Shays And Whiskey Rebellions In The American Early Republic: A Heroic Agrarian Protest

Popular protest accompanied by collective action was a frequent phenomenon in the last quarter of the eighteenth century in British North America, both in urban and rural areas. Protest movements against established authority are often associated with the American Revolution, but precedents for their actions can be traced back to the colonial period. Beginning with Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia in the 1670s, protest, rioting, and various forms of collective action became widespread as the colonial population grew and diversified. In the years between the Seven Years’ War and the outset of the Revolutionary War, while there was more urban than rural rioting, agrarian movements had greater amplitude than urban ones, lasted longer, and probably left a more durable impact on the areas they affected, particularly in shaping political attitudes within the struggle for independence (Brown).