Max Moroz

“Rural Insurgency in Post-Independence Pennsylvania” by Terry Bouton

Insurgences sparked through rural Pennsylvania after the state and federal government undermined

many farmers’ political liberties and concentrated wealth in the hands of a few rather than letting all citizens

obtain economic independence. Money was scarce with the debt left from the Revolutionary War, and new

state government policies began to cause foreclosures in rural areas. Many farmers believed the foreclosures

were derived from intentional government efforts to decrease the circulation of money to keep the wealth and

power in the hands of the few elites. Those few with the wealth were also the ones in government, writing and

benefiting from interest regulations, and the rates that devastated debtor farmers also directly benefited the big

elites. The men who wrote these policies believed it was in the best interest of the nation. Robert Morris

believed that America would be a great nation only after wealth is distributed into the hands of few men who

would use it “most productively”. Pennsylvania farmers condemned state officials for these policies, saying

that they undermined their liberty and the core values behind the Revolution. The rural Pennsylvania

inhabitants created a multi-tier network to protect their land and vision of what independence meant to them.

With support from people at all levels from the judiciary to constables to county officials, they stalled the

foreclosure process; however, these efforts proved only temporary as state officials enacted revenue laws and

pressed the county for taxation records. On a smaller scale, communities created defensive networks to prevent

foreclosures. These rings of protection each worked with a specific stage in an attempt to dismantle the

process. Rural uprisings caused chaos for state governments and prompted the legislature to revise the Articles

of Confederation. The new Pennsylvania Constitution of 1790 was ratified, and it took power away from local

judges who supported the rebellions to state-appointed judges, therefore eliminating the farmers’ ability to stall

legal cases. It was after these new policies that rural communities began using more creative strategies--road

blocking. Road closures started as a way to stop the auction process, but soon they disrupted the court system.

Farmers devoted a great deal of time to cutting down trees and digging ditches to ensure they blocked bidders

from auctions and court officials from making it to work. Despite their discontent with the outcome of the

Revolution, Pennsylvania’s government continued to benefit few elites at the expense of rural people’s liberty.