Cobblestone articles from December 2004

Cobblestone archives from December 2004

A difficult decade.
December 1, 2004... One would think that the years after the American Revolution (1775-1783) would have been good ones for the people of the new United States. After all, they had just won a war against England, a mighty European country. The new country had...

A rash of rebellions.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The years surrounding the American Revolution saw several important rebellions pit backcountry farmers who lived in the western and other rural parts of their colonies against wealthy easterners. One of the most I famous of these conflicts took...

Your life as a farmer.
December 1, 2004... Imagine you are a farmer in rural Massachusetts in the mid--to late 1700s. Earlier settlers had established farms near the Connecticut River because that land was the most fertile. When you arrived, you set out to establish a farm on land that...

A state divided.
December 1, 2004... During Colonial times, Massachusetts was divided sharply by class and geography. Some citizens were very wealthy and well-educated aristocrats--almost all of whom inhabited the eastern part of the colony. There also were poor farmers and...

Leading the rebels.
December 1, 2004... Many of the men who took up arms alongside Daniel Shays were not poor or indebted farmers. They represented a cross section of people who were not happy with the way Massachusetts was being governed. Some came from prominent families. Others...

The action unfolds.
December 1, 2004... Representatives of fifty towns in Massachusetts's Hampshire County met on August 22, 1786. They adopted a list of grievances against their state's government and constitution. This action set in motion the military phase of Shays's Rebellion....

Will the real Daniel Shays please step forward?(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... At the outbreak of the rebellion in 1786, Daniel Shays as a thirty-nine-year-old farmer living in Pelham, Massachusetts. He owned more than one hundred acres of land, which put him in the upper half of the town's wealthiest residents. The...

Did you know?
December 1, 2004... Shay's Rebellion was not the first, nor would it be the last, staged protest in America. Here are just a few others that took place in the decades surrounding Shay's actions. Culpeper's Rebellion (1677-1679) took place in northern Carolina...

Leaders for the state.
December 1, 2004... The leaders opposing Shays's Rebellion, like the insurgents themselves, had had their share of experience in the American Revolution. Several of them were war heroes who had served in positions of high command, often together and directly under...

Aftermath in Massachusetts.
December 1, 2004... Before Shays's Rebellion was put down by Governor James Bowdoin in 1787, the Massachusetts legislature had made some attempts to deal with the rebels' complaints. A 1786 law let most debt cases be heard by local justices of the peace rather...

Pardon me, please.
December 1, 2004... The last battle of Shays's Rebellion was fought on February 27, 1787. Fearing capture, the rebels escaped into neighboring states. Because at that time there was no federal constitution or national law covering the various state governors were...

Rebellions & risings.(Going Global)
December 1, 2004... The final decades of the eighteenth century witnessed revolutionary unrest not only in America but throughout the rest of the world as well. NO TO GATEAU Neither she nor her husband, King Louis XVI, actually caused the French...

Forming a more perfect union.
December 1, 2004... Shays's Rebellion scared America's Revolutionary War leaders. That fear led to calls to strengthen the national government. Even before 1787, America's original framework of laws--established in 1781 and known as the Articles of...

Rebellious quotes.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Below are some facts about Shays's Rebellion. Each contains a scrambled word. Unscramble each and write it in the space provided (the first letter is given to you). Follow the numbers below the letters and place the corresponding ones in order...

Calling all quotes.
December 1, 2004... What are your thoughts about rebellion and its benefits or dangers? Imagine you are a former Revolutionary War soldier who has come home penniless to a farm or business that has almost been ruined while you were away fighting for your country....

Winter weather.(Your Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... WINTER WEATHER White, fluffy snow covers the ground. The only things left to see are the tall, brown trees with no leaves. All the leaves fell, just like the snow, floating softly to the ground. ...

Laughter in the house.(Your Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... LAUGHTER IN THE HOUSE Lights on trees, feel the winter breeze. Reindeer prancing, Santa's dancing. Snowflakes fall, kids have a ball. Mom's the cook, as I read a Christmas book. Family's here--we...

Our great flag.(Your Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Julia Franklin Birmingham, Alabama

General George Washington.(Your Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON He was a father to his soldiers, and they were cared for like his sons. No sick man in his power escaped his loving, watchful eyes. No general has ever been better....

Victory!(Your Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... VICTORY! "Breathe," I say to myself, as the engines roar like lions ready to pounce. One by one, the vehicles sit, as if waiting for something good--victory! Crack, the bullet jumps from the gun...

Dear Cobblestonians.(Your Letters)
December 1, 2004... Understanding the French and Indian War (1754-1763) in North America requires being able to grasp the struggle for land and power that went on among England, France, and Spain during the eighteenth century. Draw a picture or write a poem or...

Books to read.(Digging Deeper)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... by Leonard L. Richards (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, www.upenn.edu/pennpress/) explores the identities of the men who were involved on both sides of the rebellion and offers some explanation for its causes and effects...

On the web.(Digging Deeper)
December 1, 2004... Here are several Web sites you can go to for a synopsis of Shays's Rebellion: www.shaysnet.com/dshays.html; www.sjchs-history.org/Shays.html; www.calliope.org/shays/shays2.html; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shays'_Rebellion From Shays's to...

Places to visit.(Digging Deeper)(Brief Article)(Directory)
December 1, 2004... Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1791, the society is the nation's oldest repository for America's history. Included in its collection of twelve million manuscripts are the papers of presidents John Adams,...

Embry's review.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2004... THE WINTER HERO by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier (New York: Scholastic, 1985, www.scholastic .com/) is the story of fourteen-year-old Justin Conkey, who craves to fight in a war. Yet he is alone, scared, in danger, and out of...

From the archives.
December 1, 2004... In the decades before and after the American Revolution, there were numerous armed conflicts in this land that became known as the United States. COBBLESTONE has taken a closer look at some of these battles in the following issues: Bacon's...

'Father of the constitution.(Flashback ... to cobblestone's James and Dolley Madison issue)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... By 1781, America had its first official set of rules, the Articles of Confederation, for governing itself as a country. It was not long before James Madison became concerned that the Articles were not strong enough to control the clashes...

Brain ticklers.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... GIVE YOUR BRAM A LITTLE TICKLE TO SEE HOW WELL YOU READ AND UNDERSTOOD THIS ISSUE ON THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF SHAYS'S REBELLION. IF YOU BELIEVE THE ANSWER TO BE FALSE, GIVE YOURSELF THE ULTIMATE TEST AND SEE WHETHER YOU CAN EXPLAIN WHY IT IS...

A final word.
December 1, 2004... THE MEN INVOLVED IN SHAYS'S REBELLION BELIEVED THEY WERE FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THOSE WHO HAD PARTICIPATED IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION TEN YEARS EARLIER. WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED TO THE UNITED STATES IF THE INSURGENTS' ACTIONS HAD LED TO...

Cartoon connection with Ebeneezer & the Colonel.(Comic)
December 1, 2004... One Morning in SPRINGFIELD, 1786... What's going on? These Massachusetts citizens are DESPERATE!! They're protesting UNFAIR LAWS by shutting down the COURT HOUSE! We NEVER got PAID for Serving in the REVOLUTION! YOUR LAWS...