Springfield 1636-1886, History of Town and City, by Mason A. Green ...

CHAPTER XTV.
1783-1787.
The Debtor Class in Massachusetts. - Rev. Samuel Ely.- Springfield -Tail broken open.
— A Mob at Northampton. — Hatfield Convention. — Commotion in other States.—
; by
i bined
\ debt.
Views of Washington and other Americans on the Situation. — Unsuccessful Attempt
to prevent the holding of the Courts in Springfield. -Town Ofliccrs. - Warrants of
Distress. -Prominent Money-Lenders. - The Town-Meeting on the Situation.
Daniel Shays. —The Court Calendar loaded with Suits against Debtors. — Courts
interfered with at Northampton. - The Elections of 1786. -Trouble at Worcester.
Mobs at Northampton. - Extra Session of the Legislature. - Shays makes a Demon-
stration at Springfield. -The Town-Meeting again. - General Lincoln. — Lincoln's
March to the Connecticut Valley.- General Shepard's Defence of the Springfield
Armory. - Shays defeated. - The Towns send in Petitions praying for Peace and
Pardon. — The Triumph of Law.
The return of peace brought grave responsibilities upon the shoul-
ders of the American leaders. The Continental soldiers were poor,
and the money was largely in the hands of civilians. The men who,
their valor, put property in New England beyond the reach of
England found themselves burdened with personal obligations, and
the fiercest conflict was precipitated between debtors who had borne
arms and creditors who had not. This is the general statement, but
there were other complications.
-
A worthless paper medium, a sham-
bling and ill-defined union of the States, a jealousy of military power,
and wild visions of what the new American democracy could do, com-
to still further torture the commonwealth. If 177G was the
time which tried all men's souls, 1786 was the time which tried the
poor man's soul, for fully one-half of the citizens in the State were in
The multiplication of judgments, and the excursions of sheriffs
in search of property to levy upon, embittered the people against the
courts of law.