Shays, Daniel

Shays, Daniel (shāz), c.1747–1825, American soldier and insurrectionist, b. probably in Hopkinton, Mass. A farmer from W Massachusetts, he fought the British in the American Revolution and was made a captain of the 5th Massachusetts Regiment in 1777. After the war he settled at Pelham, Mass., and became a leader in the revolt of small farmers that resulted from postwar economic depression; the uprising became known as Shays's Rebellion. After the defeat of the insurgents in Feb., 1787, Shays fled to Vermont. He was finally pardoned in June, 1788, and later moved to New York state.

---

Shays, Daniel (c. 1747–1825) soldier, insurrectionary; probably born in Hopkinton, Mass. His origins were humble and little is known of his early life. He fought at Bunker Hill (1775) and at Saratoga (1777); he resigned from the army in 1780 and settled in Pelham, Mass., where he held several town offices. He led the insurrection in western Massachusetts (1786–87) that grew out of a severe economic depression; armed groups threatened courts charged with the collection of debts, and in January 1787 Shays directed an assault on the Springfield Arsenal. Militia forces repulsed his band and pursued it to Petersham, where the remnants were captured. Shays himself fled to Vermont. Massachusetts authorities condemned him to death for being a leader of the rebellion that bears his name; he received a pardon in 1788. Shays migrated to western New York, where he passed the remainder of his years in obscurity.