Biography
Daniel Shays was a farmer and veteran of the Revolutionary War — he had fought at Bunker Hill, Ticonderoga and Saratoga — who became the reluctant figurehead of the 1786–87 uprising of debt-ridden Massachusetts farmers that bears his name. Shays’ Rebellion, a revolt against aggressive debt collection and the seizure of farms, was put down by force in early 1787. Shays fled to Vermont, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court condemned him to death for treason in absentia. He was pardoned by Governor John Hancock in 1788 and lived out his days in poverty in New York State.
