The Anti-Federalists by Jackson Main, 1961, Edited Excerpts

The depression was aggravated by a number of factors: pre-Revolutionary debts owed to the English and Scottish merchants which were exceedingly heavy. Most of the debt was held by Federalists, for the certificates were concentrated in the wealthier and the urban areas. Creditors, both public and private, tended to be Federal, while debtors were ordinarily Antifederal.

Wartime losses had been extensive. Losses suffered during the war, very heavy buying after the war, which drained the states of cash and created new debts, further debts contracted for expansion, crop failures, and a state war debt necessitated heavy taxation.

To acquire a farm often demanded a fairly large capital investment. A large proportion of farmers were in debt and were vulnerable to a depression. After the war, planters hastened to repair their plantations and purchase slaves, borrowing heavily. To some extent these new debts were justified, since they represented capital outlays, but the planters greatly overextended themselves, counting of good crops and high prices. Their situation was made worse by crop failures.

During the mid-1780’s, economic conditions grew worse. The scarcity of money, due in part to heavy exportations of gold and silver to England, resulted in bankruptcies among merchants and caused high interest rates. It became exceedingly difficult to pay taxes and private debts. By the end of 1784, the economic depression was severely felt. “The people were drove to desperation,” one writer admitted. The rapacity of the lawyers was regarded as contributing to the general distress, and it was suggested that the profession be abolished.

Debtors were forced to sell their property at a fraction of its true value. Debts were a factor which motivated farmers to take an interest in politics. As a debtor, the farmer hoped that the judicial process might be made more favorable to him. He demanded the more convenient location of courts, lower court costs and lawyer fees, laws obliging creditors to accept property at a “fair” value, the abolition of imprisonment for debt, and laws delaying the recovery of debts.

The principal economic hardship was suffered in the rural towns and countryside where the people were less able to bear financial losses. Mounting protest led to violence. There were riots among debtors in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina.

Economic problems gave rise to political issues.