<P> Historians are divided on the impact the rebellion had on the ratification debates . Robert Feer notes that major Federalist pamphleteers rarely mentioned it, and that some anti-Federalists used the fact that Massachusetts survived the rebellion as evidence that a new constitution was unnecessary . Leonard Richards counters that publications like the Pennsylvania Gazette explicitly tied anti-Federalist opinion to the rebel cause, calling opponents of the new constitution "Shaysites" and the Federalists "Washingtonians". </P> <P> David Szatmary argues that debate in some states was affected, particularly in Massachusetts, where the rebellion had a polarizing effect . Richards records Henry Jackson's observation that opposition to ratification in Massachusetts was motivated by "that cursed spirit of insurgency", but that broader opposition in other states originated in other constitutional concerns expressed by Elbridge Gerry, who published a widely distributed pamphlet outlining his concerns about the vagueness of some of the powers granted in the constitution and its lack of a Bill of Rights . </P> <P> The military powers enshrined in the constitution were soon put to use by President George Washington . After the passage by the United States Congress of the Whiskey Act, protest against the taxes it imposed began in western Pennsylvania . The protests escalated and Washington led federal and state militia to put down what is now known as the Whiskey Rebellion . </P> <P> The events and people of the uprising are commemorated in the towns where they lived and those where events took place . Sheffield erected a memorial (pictured above) marking the site of the "last battle", and Pelham memorialized Daniel Shays . US Route 202, which runs through Pelham, is called the Daniel Shays Highway . A statue of General Shepard was erected in his hometown of Westfield . </P>

Uprising of massachusetts farmers who demanded debt relief