History Talk: A Little Rebellion Now and Then-A History of Shays’ Rebellion

Shays Rebellion is viewed as an agrarian revolt pitting impoverished farmers in western Massachusetts against the wealthy merchant class of the coastal eastern part of the State.  However, there are accounts of the participants and the events of this post-revolutionary uprising that both confirm and negate this long held perception. Dennis Picard will share the stories leading up to what was termed at the time, the “Regulators,” their activities in our area, a few personages of local interest and the effect on our nation’s early history.

Dennis Picard, former Director of the Storrowtown Village Museum, served as a consultant on the filming of the award winner “A Little Rebellion Now and Then: Prologue to the Constitution,” Calliope Films, 1985, which dramatizes the turbulent years after the American Revolution that culminated in Shays’ Rebellion and the framing of the Constitution.