Thursday, December 11, 2008

Angry Farmer's, Whiskey, and America's Big Do-Over

We begin with a little history lesson.

There were three assigned readings for the first episode of Neil Wehnemen's Constitutional Law I podcast. Links to the readings and the mp3 file can be found at http://www.lifeofalawstudent.com/.

Onto the briefs. I read the Articles of Confederation, and wikis for Shay's Rebellion and The Whiskey Rebellion.

The Articles of Confederation
Do you remember learning about this in 9th grade? I'm ashamed to admit that, although "The Articles of Confederation" did ring a bell, I was unaware that America was actually on it's second constitution. I don't have time to list all the grievances cited in the wikis, but understand that people from all walks of life were irate for most of the 6 or so years under The Articles. In general the central government had very little power compared to the states.

After we whooped the Brits (sorry England, I'm cheeky) in the Revolutinary War, most or all of the states were in debt. This became a major problem when some citizens (notably farmers, who are always angry as hell) either couldn't or wouldn't pay their taxes. A man named Daniel Shay (probably a farmer) is credited with leading a rebellion that exposed just how little power the federal government had, and why that might be a problem. Opponents of The Articles used this opportunity to ratify The Constitution, and give America it's big do-over. Goodbye unicameral legislature, state currency, and general feeling that Canada is just as good as us-and maybe we should even let them join up.

The Whiskey Rebellion was led by a bunch of angry farmers (really, is there any other kind?) who felt they were being unfairly taxed on their whiskey. By this point the federal government had bought up all that war debt and was springing it on the common man in new and exciting ways. The difference is that the new government, which had much more central power, squashed the farmers in a historic beatdown. Ba-da-bing! Over 200 years later The Constituion Part 2 is still a hit. Maybe with the grace of god, and the quick thinking of Nicholas Cage she'll be around for 200 more.

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