Historical Essay Sample about Shays's Rebellion

I hope all is well. The time for action has come! Shays's Rebellion has revealed the government's weakness under the Articles of Confederation! America’s long journey of seeking freedom from governmental authority can finally come to and end. I, along with some of my fellow companions in the Constitutional Convention, are fighting for the ratification of the United States Constitution. I am writing to you because I understand the position you've taken in this battle. There are many fears surrounding the idea of ratifying the Constitution such as the government holding too much power and the possibility of failing to protect the rights of individual citizens, however, the ratification of the Constitution and the promise of the Bill of Rights can successfully create a government that will have the ability to answer the individual and collective needs of our country. Allow me to attempt to persuade you to join the fight in ratifying our Constitution.

We have been fighting for our Independence for so long now, and we are so close to winning. Throughout most of our history, “people had been ruled by the strong and reigned over by those simply born into power” (Hennessey 8). Many of our people have previously faced difficult lives in Britain and sought out America to escape the poverty, warfare and political turmoil they endured. America was intended to be a place for opportunities and growth. Instead, King George III has controlled our colonies and given us no representation within our own governments. He riddled us with taxes which resulted in one of the greatest wars that America has ever experienced, the American Revolution. I'm sure you remember it cousin, it was the bloody five year war where our poor Uncle Theodore was wounded. Our people stood up for our rights. Fellow brothers pitted themselves against the mightiest military in the world! General George Washington went in with few heavy weapons and brothers who were barely more than an undisciplined mob. But, with the help of the French, and the donation of money and manpower, we proved to Britain that our rights were worth fighting for. The very first sentence of our Constitution clearly states that “We the people” , and only the people, are the source of all government power (US Const., Preamble). Not only will our Constitution grant power to the people, but the addition of the Bill of Rights provisions to our Constitution will further protect our individual liberties and “certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people” (The Bill of Rights, amend. IX). 

Our former colonies now identify themselves as states. We the people, along with the Confederation Congress, have made an agreement to bind ourselves together using the Articles of Confederation. The Articles have brought our people together, “declaring war, conducting foreign affairs, and making treaties with other governments” (Foner, 194). Despite its temporary greatness, one cannot deny the fact that the Articles of Confederation were too weak to hold our newly freed country together. Each of our states, no matter “what its size, population, or economic power is, can only receive a single vote on every issue” (Hennessey, 16). This allows our smaller states to easily obstruct our process of the passing of laws. Our Congress had no Executive Authority to hold our states to their decisions. Our new Constitution clearly states that our government shall be “ composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States” allowing multiple members of each state to represent within our government (US Const., Article I., sec. 1). 

Our Congress has no revenue as our states have their own separate money. Congress has pleaded with our states to pay their shares since they cannot tax us. We owe France a great sum of money for aiding us in the battle against Britain. Since we are free from Britain's grasp, American ships are barred from trading with the West Indies and imported goods flooding the market have been “undercutting the business of many craftsmen, driving down wages, and draining money out of the country” (Foner 199). Taxes and debt stripped away our farmers' land have resulted in uprisings such as Shays’s Rebellion. Our Congress did nothing to address this situation. Rich businessmen have taken it upon themselves to fund a private army in order to calm the uprising. Shays’s Rebellion exposed the government's weakness under the Articles of Confederation and strengthened our people's beliefs that that the “national government must be strengthened so that it could develop uniform economic policies and protect property owners from infringements on their rights by local majorities (Foner 200). The Constitution states that that “Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States (US Const. Article. I. sec. 8). Our Constitution can help protect these individual and collective needs of not only our people but our country as entirety. 

As I stated before, I understand your position within the fight to ratify the Constitution and understand the reasons behind it. You and your companions' fears about the central government holding too much power and the potential failure to protect your liberties are valid reasons to be skeptical. That is why my colleagues and I have created the Constitutional Convention. We can assure that the Constitution will create a government where the power is divided among a legislature, an executive, and a national judiciary branch. Our government would have the power “To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measure” without relying on the states for money (US Const. Article. I. sec. 8). States would now be forbidden from infringing on property rights, “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation (Bill of Rights, amend. V). And the government's powers “not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people,” meaning the people now represent the government (Bill of Rights, amend. X). Our Constitution has found a way to balance liberty and power among the governments and its people. 

With this, I am confident in the Constitution that me and my fellow colleagues have drafted. I hope I have eased some of the concerns that you and your companions had. With our checks and balances, division of power, and protection of individual rights, I believe our constitution is the perfect balance between liberty and power among the people and their government and has the capability to answer the individual and collective needs of our country. My last words to you cousin, history is being made as I write this, so please join us in the ratification of our new Constitution!