John Jay, one of the Founding Fathers, said that after the United States government could not pay for soldiers to defend against any armed rebellion: "the inefficiency of the Federal government [became] more and more [obvious]." Another Founding Father, Henry Knox, said that Shays' Rebellion convinced many people that the United States needed a stronger federal government. The Rebellion made it clear that the states were not protected, and if they were attacked, they would be on their own. 