The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1880-01-22
STATE REBELLIONS.
sHAYs,, SEWERS AND DoRR,s.

sHAYS,, SEWERS AND DORR'S
The present attitude of affairs il
Maine, viewed as the possible or prob
able opening of actual hostilities with
in the State, possesses more of novelt.
to the public than it actually deserves
Collisions between State Government
and citizens of States have occurred
before in the history of our Republic
and some of them were collisions OF
sufficient magnitude to be denominat.
ed rebellions. Local or State affairs fol
the most part, they were without the
importance which nationality would
have attached to them but during the
period of their continuance they en-.
crossed the public attention, served ir
their confined circle to make the par
ticipants imagine themselves to be pa
triots of the order of John Hampden
and Richard Montgomery, and now
bold the place of honor in the written
histories of the respective States in
which they occurred.
Two of these rebellions grew out OF
the unsettled state in which the RevO-
lutionary War left in the country
while third arose from evils inner
ent in form of State Government de-
scended from Colonial times. The
first two were Shays' Rebellion In
Massachusetts and Sewers Rebellion
in North Carolina; the third was the
30 o-called DORIS Rebellion in Rhode
Island. We make no allusion to the
late Louisiana troubles, which were
too intimately associated with the Ma
tional Government to be strictly State
affairs.
sHAYs' REBELLION.
Debt, shattered industries and di-
rect taxation were results of the War
of Independence. as we'll as liberty
and selfgovernment. Massachusetts
suffered no more, perhaps, than other
States, but her Government seemed
more ready to meet the emergency.
The remedy was applied too early,
and the direct tax met with discomfort
and restlessness. In the western
counties dissatisfaction ripened into
resistance. Lawyers were supposed
TO be the chief cause of the general
distress, and the strong feeling of re-
sentiment against them resulted in at
tacks upon the Courts. In August,
17S6, an armed mob prevented the sit
ting of the Court of Common Pleas at
Northampton. The event served to
enkindle the spirit of insurrection
throughout the Connecticut River
counties and the County of Worcester.
Insurgents in the City of Worcester
initiated the Northampton affair. A
similar attempt in Springfield was
met by body of six hundred militia,
but the rebels, under command of
Shays, were so superior in numbers
and prestige that the militia was help
less, and on the third day the Court
at Worcester, in Decem-
ber, the militia were more successful
they drove the rioters to an eminence
in front of the Courthouse, and for a
day or two commanded the situation.
At the end of his time Shays arrived
with reinforcements, the tables were
turned, and the object of the rebels
the adjournment of the Courts-was
again accomplished. The Governor
now took more active measures. Forty
four hundred militia were called out.
Lincoln,a Revolutionary hero.
was placed In command. Nine hund-
red men were placed in the arsenal at
which Shays with large
force was on the point of attacking.
With steady front the insurgents ap-
preached the building. The officer in
of the militia, General Shep-
pard, at first gave orders for volley
of blank cartridges; but at this the
rebels were undismayed. Three can
non were then discharged into their
midst, and three men fell dead, while
others were wounded; whereupon
the mob cried "murderl" turned on
their heels and fed TO pointte miles
distant. Shortly afterward General
Lincoln arrived, followed the insur-
gents, and unexpectedly came upon
them at Petersham in the nighttime.
One hundred and forty of them were
taken prisoners, the remainder were
dispersed and the insurrection was
at an end. Engagements
however, between struggling
bands and the militia, in one of which
the insurgents left two dead and thirty
upon the field. Amnesty
was granted to all the participants in
The rebellion except nine, and they
were subsequently pardoned.
SEWERS REBELLION.
Debt, growing out of the Revolu=
tionary War, was the cause of this re-
bellion also, but it's course was some
what different from the Massachusetts,
affair. Directly after the war Con-
gress, in order to tighten the burdens
of the General Government, called
for general cession by the several
States of territorial lands under their
At that time what is
now Tennessee belonged to North
Carolina, and that part of it which lies
between the Cumberland and Allie
heny ranges was comparatively we'll
settled. By this cession this territory
passed from the jurisdiction of North
Carolina and entered into that of the
General Government. The General
Government was slow to acknowledge
the responsibility. North Carolina
had renounced it, and, in view Of these
the idea occurred to
oota1 eofflera t0 caf nm a Gov.