ngress. The Government
had sufficient excuse for intervention after the attack upon the
national arsenal in Springfield. Congress, indeed, began to raise
troops but did not dare to admit its purpose and offered as a pretext
an expedition against the Northwestern Indians. The rebellion was over
before any assistance could be given. The inefficiency of Congress and
its lack of influence were evident. Like the disorders in Rhode Island,
Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts helped to bring about a reaction and
strengthened the conservative movement for reform.

These untoward happenings, however, were only symptoms: the causes
of the trouble lay far deeper. This fact was recognized even in Rhode
Island, for at least one of the conventions had passed resolutions
declaring that, in considering the condition of the whole country, what
particularly concerned them was the condition of trade. Paradoxical as
it may seem, the trade and commerce of the country were already on the
upward grade and prosperity was actually returning. But prosperity
is usually a process of slow growth and is seldom recognized by the
community at large until it is well established. Farsighted men forecast
the coming of good times in advance of the rest of the community, and
prosper accordingly. The majority of the people know that prosperity has
come only when it is unmistakably present, and some are not aware of it
until it has begun to go. If that be true in our day, much more was it
true in the eighteenth century, when means of communication were so poor
that it took days for a message to go from Boston to New York and
weeks for news to get from Boston to Charleston. It was a period of
adjustment, and as we look back after the event we can see that the
American people were adapting themselves with remarkable skill to the
new conditions. But that was not so evident to the men who were feeling
the pinch of hard times, and when all the attendant circumstances,
some of which have been described, are taken into account, it is not
surprising that commercial depression should be one of the strongest
influences in, and the immediate occasion of, bringing men to the point
of willingness to attempt some radical changes.

The fact needs to be reiterated that the people of the United States
were largely dependent upon agriculture and other forms of extractive
industry, and that markets for the disposal of their goods were an
absolute necessity. Some of the States,