In the past 250 years of the history of the United States, the country has experienced many civil strife and revolutionary tests. And the boycott of the government is the origin of the country, as it was built with the support of an armed uprising against the established rule of the British crown.
The United States is best known for the Civil War and the Reconstruction Period, during which several southern states declared independence from the U.S. federal government. There were also many individuals, groups, or political organizations that sought sovereignty from federal control.
But as you can imagine, all of these attempts failed — some because of military repression, others because of legal flaws inherent in the plan. The following are the 4 most famous attempts to challenge the sovereignty of the U.S. federal government.
Sheath Uprising
Dates: August 1786 to February 1787
Location: Massachusetts
According to the Confederation Regulations, the early United States suffered from economic stagnation and anxiety. The Constitution defines the United States as a loose coalition of independent state governments. Therefore, there is no real central currency or agreed financial system for American society to operate.
After the revolution, the military forces of the colonies, composed mainly of peasants, returned to their agricultural way of life because their services were not paid for anything. They found, however, that creditors who had previously allowed them to purchase goods and goods by barter or loans now needed to recover their arrears. Coupled with Massachusetts' high tax rates, popular discontent inevitably exploded.
At first, the reaction was peaceful. They try to resolve disputes in debtor courts and push for legal reform. But then there was civil disobedience: In Worcester, Massachusetts, citizens prevented judges from entering their courts to handle matters.
The rebellion soon gathered around Daniel Shesse. Veterans like Daniel Sheath, suffering from poverty and disillusionment, feel that the dreams of equality and freedom they fought for seemed futile.
Henry Knox, who was about to become U.S. Secretary of War, wrote to George Washington in 1786 saying:
Daniel Shesse's credo is that, through the joint efforts of all, American property will be saved from british confiscation, and therefore American property should be the common property of all... Our government must pick itself up and make changes to ensure the safety of our lives and property.
Instead of trying to address the insurgents' concerns, the Massachusetts government suppressed them, terminated habeas corpus, and imposed harsh penalties on anyone found to have engaged in incitement. The governor of Massachusetts even hired more than 4,000 troops to suppress the rebellion, but that only added to tensions.
This tension reached its peak in January 1787, when Daniel Sheath led a group to the Springfield Arsenal, a federal military reserve, in an attempt to seize the weapons there in order to launch further acts of violence. Massachusetts militia and the governor's private army anticipated the raid and shot at Daniel Sheath's men for believing they were trying to overthrow the state government. Soon the rebellion dissipated and Daniel Sheath fled to Vermont.
Eventually, though, Daniel Sheath and many of his associates were pardoned. Soon after, the U.S. Constitution was ratified, consolidating and strengthening the federal government, but not without further incidents. The Whiskey Rebellion of 1791 was sparked by former soldiers' dissatisfaction with federal tax rates. Like the Sheath Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion ended with the federal government declaring its supremacy.
Of course, Daniel Shessein's role in this brief but chaotic conflict made him a local celebrity.
Taos Uprising
Date: January 19, 1847 to July 9, 1847
Location: Northern New Mexico
As the Mexican-American War raged, the territory of New Mexico was fiercely contested by two armies. The culmination of the Battle of New Mexico, named the "Battle of Santa Fe," may be mistaken for a skirmish, but no shots were fired during the clashes. The Governor of Mexican Territory, Manuel Amio, surrendered almost immediately, and U.S. forces subsequently claimed that New Mexico was U.S. territory. Amiejo was then replaced by Charles Bent, a local fur merchant in the small town of Taos.
The U.S. occupation is good news for many residents of the region, but there are also large numbers of New Mexicans who are skeptical, worried, or completely hostile about the continued presence of U.S. troops and officials. The surrender hurt the self-esteem of Mexican and American Natives, who had no interest in being forced into the United States either. Landowners are also afraid of losing their property rights in the process of handing over from Mexico.
On January 19, 1847, rebels led by New Mexico politicians Pablo Montoya and Tomás Romero attacked Governor Bent's home. Soon, Montoya and Romero oversaw the assassination of Bent and other government officials. The next day, a group of about 500 rebels occupied the factory in Simeon Turley in Arroya Hondo.
U.S. troops reacted quickly to the crisis, forcing the rebels back to their last position in Taos Pueblo and defeating the remaining insurgents. According to the dawes News, now a local Dawes newspaper, the incident ended with 11 Mexicans and 5 Native Americans executed for treason, including leader Montoya. Montoya was subsequently hanged on 6 April 1847 in The Town Square of Taos.
Battle of Freedom Square
Date: September 14-17, 1874
Location: Los Angeles, New Orleans
The Civil War was the most destructive and longest-lasting war in American history, and after the war, a truly lasting peace was hard-won and difficult to achieve. The reconstruction period was consumed by civil strife, internal terrorism and the simmering resentment of Confederate loyalists.
Southern terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the White Alliance, which took up arms against their local governments, aimed at disrupting the social order that had formed after the surrender of Apomatox after the civil war. The "Freedom War" was one such act of violence, with the Crescent City White League openly clashing with the New Orleans Police Department.
When Louisiana slowly returned to the embrace of the Union, democracy was affected. Democrats who support the Confederacy have been accused of intimidating voters and cracking down on black citizens, and have questioned the validity of the election results. Democratic politicians have sought to create a government that competes with federally backed Republican-controlled state legislatures. Using the White Alliance as a paramilitary terrorist group, Louisiana Democrats staged armed protests to infuriate ethnically integrated Louisiana militia and New Orleans police forces.
The provocation worked, and hostilities broke out on both sides in downtown New Orleans. The White League took control of City Hall and within three days took control of New Orleans, triggering a federal military intervention and arriving in New Orleans on September 17. U.S. forces seek a peaceful end to the conflict by negotiating amnesty and other protective measures in exchange for returning to normal government affairs. However, 27 people were killed in the fighting.
Federal troops were stationed in Louisiana for another three years to ensure the state's return to democracy. It all ended with the 1877 Compromise, which resolved the controversy surrounding the 1876 presidential election. Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South in exchange for ceding the disputed electoral vote (through proxy, the election itself) to Rutherford B. Hayes, who lost to Samuel J. Tilden in the general election.
Louisiana no longer needed to enforce reconstruction plans, so a plaque was erected on the 1932 White Union's Monument to Racial Violence. The monument then stood until 2017.
San Juan nationalist uprising
Date: October 30, 1950
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Since the Foraker Act of 1900, the territory of Puerto Rico has been run by a civilian government with the support of the United States federal government. Puerto Rico's relations with the United States had been complex at home. Like Hawaii, it is a well-known tourist destination in the United States, completely separate from the 48 neighboring states. But unlike Hawaii, it has not yet been granted state status.
Puerto Rico was neither an independent state nor a mature U.S. state, and was in the middle of a nature that led to a separatist movement, culminating in the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, which was founded on September 17, 1922. By the 1930s, the party had advocated for independence through armed conflict with the United States. Under the leadership of its leader, Pedro Albizu Campos, the Nationalist Party abandoned all pretense of participating in territorial politics and began militarization.
Albizu Campos and the Nationalists planned an uprising in 1952, a year in which the United States Congress would grant Puerto Rico the status of a "Free Commonwealth, or Federation." For the NATIONALISTs, this was an unacceptable development, as they saw it as nothing more than a power grab by the colonizers. Local authorities were informed of the plans and took action to arrest potential rebels.
Nationalists want to attack the governor's residence in San Juan. During this uprising, Nationalist soldiers were sent to besiege the building. U.S. armed forces then met the rebels at the official residence and returned fire. Eventually 3 nationalists were killed in the attack. At the same time, attempts to assassinate Harry Truman failed. Albizu Campos was taken into custody (although later pardoned) and the nationalist movement suffered a serious setback.
Still, they continued their violent campaign and reached its peak in the 1954 attack on the U.S. House of Representatives. It was the last straw for Campos, his third and final arrest. He was last pardoned in 1964 and then died a year later.