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Re: Seeking information about Shays' Rebellion
Hi William,.
Welcome to History Hub
Was there something specific that you want to know about Shays' Rebellion.
There is a lot of information online as per the following.
Alice Lane
Research Volunteer
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Re: Seeking information about Shays' Rebellion
Jason Atkinson
Sep 25, 2020 9:05 AM
Dear Mr. Rivera,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774 - 1789 in the Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention (Record Group 360). According to the Index, The papers of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 pages 4794-4795, these records include a number of documents related to Shays’ Rebellion. For further information, please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT1. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.
As part of our on-going commitment to preserve our records, the National Archives has entered into partnerships with Ancestry and Fold3 to digitize some of NARA's holdings. These records are online via Fold3 as the data collection Continental Congress - Papers. It may require a subscription to Fold3 to view them on that website. Some libraries provide free access to Fold3 to their patrons.
We also searched the National Archives’ website Founders Online and located 199 results that reference the rebellion either in the document itself or the annotation to the document.
Because the uprising happened in Massachusetts, we recommend contacting the Massachusetts Archives Division. Their website lists several volumes (Volumes 189-192) with records pertaining to Shays’ Rebellion, and there may be additional related holdings.
Plus, the Massachusetts Historical Society has the Benjamin Lincoln Papers and the Shays' Rebellion papers, and may have other related holdings. Their website includes the article “This Convulsed Commonwealth”: Daniel Shays Attempts to Call a Truce during Shays’ Rebellion, the Agrarian Revolt Named for Him. We recommend contacting them for further assistance. There may be local historical societies and commissions which can assist you.
In addition, we searched the Library of Congress’s catalog and located a number of documents, books, and other materials. Reference questions may be submitted using their Ask a Librarian service.
Other related archival collections include the Shays' Rebellion collection (1784-1787, bulk 1787) at the University of Michigan’s William L. Clements Library.
WorldCat lists quite a few books and other materials related to Shays’ Rebellion.
Next, we located a number of web pages on the topic. Some of them have bibliographies which may suggest avenues for further research. A few examples are listed below.
- https://www.history.com/topics/early-us/shays-rebellion
- https://www.ushistory.org/US/15a.asp
- https://www.britannica.com/event/Shayss-Rebellion
- https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/shays-rebellion/
- https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-shays-rebellion-starts-in-massachusetts
- https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-shays-rebellion-was-thwarted
- https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-reasons-why-americas-first-constitution-failed
- https://www.si.edu/object/daniel-shays-and-job-shattuck%3Anpg_NPG.75.25
- https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/2732
- http://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Shays%E2%80%99-Rebellion-Reclaiming-the-Revolution-by-Tom-Goldscheider.pdf
- https://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44806573.pdf
- https://www.worthingtonhistoricalsociety.org/wordpress/?p=1981
Finally, we suggest working with your local libraries to locate books and journal articles.
We hope this information is helpful. Best of luck with your research!