Again Kentucky, which now numbered six instead of three counties, and which had a supreme court and court-house, together with a jail, although as yet built only of hewn logs, resolved to form a separate state, and accordingly petitioned Virginia for permission to do so. They had no printing-press or newspaper as yet, but the address on this important occasion was circulated in manuscript.
Tennessee was rapidly increasing likewise, and beginning again, like her neighbour, to think of independence, although as yet a great portion of the present territory remained in the hands of the Indians. Under the name of Franklin, or Frankland, a provisional government was organised, with John Sevier at the head, which, though leading to violence and almost civil war, and put down for the present, yet rose up again in due time, like a growth of the forest, and John Sevier was the first legalised state’s governor, with a recognised place in congress. Nor were the Wyoming people yet satisfied, and a John Franklin there, with Ethan Allen of Vermont, and other “wild Yankees,” as they were called, agitated for an independent existence, until at length Pennsylvania, who had acted like a step-mother to them, pacified their uneasiness by granting their reasonable requests. The settlers of Maine also were stirred by the same craving for independence, and agitated for it and a remission of taxes.
Massachusetts surrendered to the United States, in April, her claims to the western territory; and in May, congress enacted an ordinance for the survey and sale of the lands north-west of the Ohio. Regular surveys on a systematic and uniform plan were commenced. The plan is described by Hildreth as consisting of a series of lines perpendicular to each other, the one set running north and south, the other east and west, by which means the federal lands were to be lotted out into townships of six miles square, each township to be again subdivided by similar lines into thirty-six sections, each containing a square mile. The survey has since been carried to half and quarter sections, and even to sixteenths. One section in each township was to be reserved as the basis of a school fund, which however, it is to be regretted, has not always been attended to. The public lands, when ready for market, were to be sold by public auction, the minimum price being one dollar per acre, to which the expenses of survey were to be added.
The whole attention of congress was not, however, devoted to such agreeable subjects as the survey and sale of the great western territory. The early instalments of foreign debts were falling due in addition to the old pressure for money. It was no use to impose taxes, for each state had its own local debts, and congress had no legal power to enforce their payment. Nevertheless, in the midst of all these urgent and accumulating cares, congress being possessed of powers to regulate the currency and coinage of the country, turned its attention to this subject. A decimal scale was adopted, and the dollar, as the coin best known and most common in America, was taken as the money unit. A mint was established in October, 1786, but the poverty of congress allowed no coinage excepting a few tons of copper cents.[[59]]
We have spoken of the uneasy, restless spirit which was agitating in the newer settlements, the resistance against taxation being in many cases the primal cause, while others were by no means wanting, among which may be reckoned the disorganisation of the social state by the long war, the regular useful and arduous occupations of the male population having been interrupted, and a vast number of discontented, impoverished and unoccupied men thrown upon society. The general court of Massachusetts had found it necessary to impose taxes which, perhaps, in any case would have been ill received, but which now led to general resistance and even rebellion. The discontented had arms in their hands; they had seen the country free itself from the tyranny of Britain by these means, and now they were about to try the same against what they considered the tyranny of their own government. In September of 1786, the number of the malcontents appearing so large and formidable, the militia were called out to protect the sittings of the court, which it was the object of the insurgents to prevent; and so conciliatory and considerate was the spirit of the government, that their grievances were taken under consideration and as much as possible redressed. Bills were passed for diminishing legal costs, law charges being at that time enormous; and for allowing the payment of taxes and private debts in specific articles instead of specie, of which there was scarcely any in the country; as well as for applying certain revenues, formerly devoted to other purposes, to the payment of governmental taxes. So far were concessions made; still the agitation continued, and the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended for eight months. Under the plea of raising troops to act against the north-western Indians, congress enacted the enlistment of 1,300 men, to sustain the government of Massachusetts. Nevertheless full pardon for past offences was promised to all, if they would cease from these illegal agitations.
But the seriousness of the occasion only increased, and at length some few of the agitators were lodged in Boston jail. This was the token for more determined measures, and upwards of 1,000 armed men, under the command of Daniel Shays, a late captain in the continental army, of Luke Day and Eli Parsons, appeared at Worcester, where the supreme court had just adjourned, and placed guards over those houses where the judges lodged, so as to prevent the sitting of the court, while the remainder took up their quarters in an old revolutionary barracks in the neighbourhood. Another still larger body, also under the command of Shays, marched towards Springfield, where was the federal arsenal under the guard of General Shepherd, of which they intended to possess themselves.
This was in the depth of an unusually severe winter, and the insurgents suffered bitterly from the cold and want of provisions; nevertheless their ardour was unabated. Arrived at Springfield, and in reply to the demand that the arsenal should be surrendered, General Shepherd, after warning and entreating them to retire, fired upon them. The first discharge was over their heads; no notice was taken. The second was into the ranks; a cry of “Murder!” arose, and all fled in confusion, leaving three men dead on the field and one wounded.
General Lincoln pursued with 3,000 militia, called out to serve for thirty days; but the insurgents fled to Pelham, where they posted themselves upon two hills, rendered almost inaccessible by a great fall of snow. They offered to disperse on condition of general pardon, which Lincoln, however, was not empowered to grant, and then being sorely pressed for food, made a sudden retreat to Petersham. Lincoln, informed of this retreat, set off at six in the evening, and marching all night forty miles, through intense cold and a driving snow-storm, reached Petersham by daybreak, to the astonishment of the rebels, who had not the least idea of this movement, and accordingly fled in disorder or were taken prisoners.
The energy of Lincoln broke up this formidable confederacy. Straggling parties still were in existence, and occasional collisions took place between them and the authorities, but the public danger was at an end. In May, a pardon was proclaimed to all who, within three months, should take the oath of allegiance, with the exception of nine persons. All insurgents, however, were deprived for three years of the right to vote, to serve as jurymen, or to be employed as schoolmasters, innkeepers, or the retailers of ardent spirits. Of the nine condemned to death, four escaped from prison, four were afterwards liberated, and one was condemned to hard labour.
In September, tranquillity was so generally restored that it was judged safe to disband such troops as still remained in service. The leniency which had been shown towards the insurrectionists was the only safe course. The sentiment of the people was with them, and at the general election the ensuing year, all who had been active against them lost their votes. Hancock was elected governor in the place of Bowdoin.