Shays's Rebellion

Reading the Riot Act: Rhetoric, Psychology, and Counter-Revolutionary Discourse in Shays's Rebellion, 1786–1787

“…These actions damaged the government's ethos, because it was difficult to persuade law-abiding citizens of the necessity of state violence when it was used for self-serving ends hurting innocent women and children. 44 The February 26 Disqualification Act barred Regulators from voting and serving in public office; the March 9 Indemnity Act granted clemency to those associated with the insurgency (with the exclusion of Shays and three others) so long as that person took an oath of allegiance to Bowdoin's government. These two acts, along with the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, though powerful rhetorical attempts to rivet a conviction of criminality on the minds of the Regulators, cut off all opposition to Bowdoin's government.…”