BIO: Daniel SHAYS (1747-1825) was the descendant of Irish immigrants originally named SHEA. In 1786, he led a rebellion of Massachusetts farmers against high taxes and imprisonment for debt. Similar rebellions took place in nearly all the colonies, but Shays' was considered the most serious. Massachusetts farmers were especially hard hit by bad harvests and declining prices and thus found the high taxes particularly oppressive. Led by Shays, they took up arms and tried to seize an arsenal at Springfield. They also harassed politicians and merchants identified with the state government. The movement was eventually crushed by the state militia. Shays and the rebels were later pardoned, but it caused such alarm in the new nation that it gave momentum to the movement to abolish the Articles of Confederation and adopt a Constitution.