Union and Democracy | Page 8

v. Weeden was not without its lesson to

those who were casting about for ways and means to defend property
from the assaults of popular majorities. In Virginia, too, the highest
state court, in the case of Commonwealth v. Caton, boldly asserted the
right of the judiciary to declare void such acts of the legislature as were
repugnant to the constitution.
Meantime the debtor and creditor classes in Massachusetts were locked
in a struggle which menaced the peace of the country. Here as
elsewhere hard times had forced the small farmers of the interior
counties to the wall. No doubt their difficulties were caused in part by
their own improvidence, but they were increased by the prevailing
scarcity of money. So dire was the want of a medium of exchange that
many communities resorted to barter. The editor of a Worcester paper
advertised that he would accept Indian corn, rye, wheat, wood, or
flaxseed, in payment of debts owed to him, up to the amount of twenty
shillings. It seemed to the ignorant farmer that his creditors were taking
an unfair advantage of circumstances in demanding currency to settle
debts which had been contracted when money was abundant. The law,
however, favored the creditor. The jails were filled to overflowing with
men imprisoned for debt; the courts were overwhelmed with actions. In
Worcester County, with a population of less than fifty thousand people,
there were in 1784 two thousand cases on the docket of the Inferior
Court of Common Pleas. In this age of litigation only one class
appeared to thrive--the lawyers. The anger of the poor debtors,
inflamed by attachments and foreclosures, vented itself upon the
ostensible cause of their misfortunes. The excessive costs of courts and
the immoderate fees of lawyers are grievances which bulk large in
every indictment drawn by town meeting or county convention. Young
John Quincy Adams, then a senior in Harvard College, was so affected
by the odium which had fallen upon the practice of law that he was
almost ready to abandon the career which he had chosen.
The adjournment of the General Court in July, 1786, without
authorizing an issue of paper money or passing a legal-tender act or
fixing the fees of lawyers and the costs of courts, contributed to the
unrest which was now assuming a threatening aspect. During August
and September riotous mobs prevented the courts from sitting at

Northampton, Worcester, Great Barrington, and Concord. Alarmed by
these disorders Governor Bowdoin convened the legislature in special
session and summoned the militia to the protection of the capital. While
the legislature was devising ways and means of allaying the public
excitement, another demonstration occurred at Worcester which
resulted in the dispersion of the Court of General Sessions by a force of
armed men. From Worcester the disorders spread into adjoining
counties; and something like a concerted movement upon Boston and
Cambridge seemed to be preparing. The prompt action of the state
authorities however, balked the plans of the insurgents. The main body
of insurgents under Shays scattered; but a month later they rallied
around Springfield to prevent the holding of court. Governor Bowdoin
then dispatched troops, four thousand strong, under the command of
General Lincoln, to the assistance and protection of the civil authorities.
A civil war seemed imminent. Shays had planned an attack upon the
national arsenal at Springfield, but he could not bring his rustics to act
together. Before the determined resistance of the local militia his
undisciplined troops broke and fled. The arrival of the state militia
under Lincoln completed the demoralization of Shays' army. Retreating
through the hilly country of Hampshire, they wore finally overtaken
and routed at Petersham. Some of the insurgents went to their homes,
completely humbled and subdued; others fled across the border to await
better times; and still others, unrepentant and unsubdued, continued to
harass the countryside. It was not until the following September that
Governor Bowdoin ventured to disband the militia.
To these disturbances in Massachusetts, Congress had not remained
indifferent. Aside from the direct interest that all members were bound
to take in a rebellion which seemed to threaten the very foundations of
a sister State and which might easily recur in their own, Congress was
concerned for the fate of the national arsenal at Springfield. But no
forces were available for the protection of the property of the
Confederation. The few hundred men who comprised the army were
scattered in garrisons along the western frontier. Acting as intermediary
between Congress and Governor Bowdoin, General Knox as Secretary
of War made what provision he could for the defense of the arsenal by
local militia; but these measures were confessedly inadequate. Upon his

report Congress was finally moved to increase the army, ostensibly for
the protection of the frontier, where in truth Indian hostilities