Shays Rebellion Northwest Territory

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Shays RebellionNorthwest Territory

• Pages 335-337

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Daniel Shays

• Because of inflation, Continental soldiers did
  not receive the pay they earned fighting in the
  war.
• Daniel Shays was one of these soldiers.
• He was a farmer who could not afford to buy tools
  and seeds for planting.

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Problems for Farmers

• Like many former soldiers, he borrowed money and
  went into debt.
• Some states made debtors pay back what they owed
  right away.
• If they could not pay, the state could take their
  land and send them to prison.
• Many farmers protested the laws.

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Shays Rebellion

• In 1786 Daniel Shays, a former captain in the
  Continental army along with 1,200 other poor
  farmers joined together to show their anger about
  the situation.

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Shays Rebellion

• In January 1787, they attacked a building used
  for storing weapons in Massachusetts.
• They wanted to show that the government was too
  weak to act.
• The governor of Massachusetts sent the state
  militia to end the conflict.
• Four protesters died in the fighting.

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The Western Lands

• Now that the war was over, a decision had to be
  made about the lands in the Ohio River Valley.
• Before the war, King George III said these lands
  were reserved for the Native Americans.
• However, many Americans decided to go ahead and
  settle the lands.

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A New Frontier

• Once the U.S. won their independence, it opened
  the frontier to settlement.
• The land north of the Ohio River was now called
  the Northwest Territory.
• The land south of the Ohio River was called the
  Southwest Territory.

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Northwest Territory
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Southwest Territory
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The Northwest Ordinance

• In 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance.
• The ordinance established the steps by which new
  states would be formed from the lands.
• The ordinance did not allow people to keep slaves
  in the Northwest Territory.
• It also said Native Americans should be treated
  fairly.