Today in Labor History—September 26

Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck, the Two Rebel Leaders

September 26, 1786 – Former Continental Army captain Daniel Shays led a group of farmers in an armed uprising against taxes imposed by the state of Massachusetts, known as Shays' Rebellion. Many farmers were destitute as a result of the depression that following the Revolutionary War. The rebels shut down the courts to block judges from foreclosing their farmland. The rebellion was quickly suppressed by the government, but the rebels did not give up. Instead, the next year they switched to electoral politics. (From Workday Minnesota)