People in the newly formed United States,…
August 1786 CE
People in the newly formed United States, hard hit by the severe economic depression of the mid 1780s and unable to pay their debts are forced first into court, then into jail.
Farmers of Western Massachusetts view these troubles as arising from the mercantile elite of Eastern Massachusetts, especially Boston, who demand hard currency to pay foreign creditors and put transatlantic trade on a firm footing.
Opposition to high taxes and stringent economic conditions begins with petitions to the government for paper currency, lower taxes, and judicial reform.
When this fails, active opposition begins in western Massachusetts on August 29, 1786, when an armed body of farmers storms the Court of Common Pleas in Northampton to prevent the further trial and imprisonment of debtors.