Читать книгу American Democracy in Context - Joseph A. Pika - Страница 69

Before Shays’ Rebellion, Virginia had already called for a convention to discuss a uniform regulation of commerce to remedy one of the primary defects of the Articles of Confederation. Only five states sent delegates to the convention, which convened in Annapolis, Maryland, in the fall of 1786. One of the delegates was Alexander Hamilton, who had previously served in the Confederation Congress; frustrated by the weakness of the national government, he had resigned in 1783. Long opposed to the Articles of Confederation, Hamilton now drafted a resolution that called on Congress to authorize a convention to examine the need either to amend the Articles of Confederation or to replace them altogether. Shays’ Rebellion provided the impetus for the Annapolis Convention to support Hamilton’s resolution. Congress now felt pressure to act. On February 21, 1787, it passed a resolution to convene a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.

Shays’ Rebellion An armed rebellion by farmers in Massachusetts who, facing foreclosure, tried using force to shut down courthouses where the foreclosures were issued. The national government’s inability to quell the rebellion made the event a potent symbol of the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.