Shays' Rebellion: An Episode in American State-Making

Abstract

American state-making is considered anomalous compared with that of Western Europe. Scholarly work underscores the unique features of the American case, emphasizing the role of groups or classes in drafting the Constitution. In contrast, Tilly's (1975, 1990) analysis of the rise of Western-European states explores war, taxation, and popular resistance—and their relationship to a state's ability to construct a centralized apparatus that can deliver resources. This paper considers some connections between this theory of European state-making and the establishment of a central authority in the United States. It examines connections between the cause of Shays' Rebellion, newspaper statements about the revolt and potential solutions which became part of public discourse, and the collective action's effect on the debates at the Constitutional Convention and specific Articles of the Constitution. The analysis shows that American state-making displayed some of the same processes as European state-making.