Preamble to the United States Constitution
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.p. 127  The Rebellion made it clear that the states were not protected, and if they were attacked, they would be on their own.