Printed Material

Petition to Benjamin Lincoln from Daniel Shays

Date:	February 14, 1787
Creator:	Daniel Shays
Publisher:	Hampshire Gazette

About this artifact

This petition, dated January 25, proposes that all hostilities be put aside until the complaints of the people can be addressed by the next sitting of the General Court. The Regulators propose that they will lay down their arms and return to their homes to wait for constitutional relief if they are assured they will be in no harm of arrest or prosecution. The petition calls for government troops to be disbanded. The petitioners request that these conditions be made part of a proclamation from the governor and sincerely hope for relief of their grievances by constitutional means. William Butler began publication of the Hampshire Gazette on September 6, 1786, in Northampton, Massachusetts. The mission of the newspaper was to inform the public about the issues pertaining to the ongoing conflicts. Butler was decidedly on the government side of the issues.