Why did Daniel Shays try to attack a federal building that held weapons?
1 Answer
To gain weapons to use in a rebellion against the government of Massachuetts.
Explanation:
The articles of Confederation had created an unstable economy. Rich bankers were abusing the power of the state to take farms away from small farmers to enrich themselves and the politicians that were working with the rich bankers.
Daniel Shay organized a rebellion against the confiscation of the property and land of the small farmers. The rebellion achieved immediate local success. To spread the rebellion Daniel Shay attempted to storm a federal arsenal to gain weapons to arm more farmers.
The attack on the federal arsenal brought in federal troops and Daniel Shay's rebellion was crushed. However the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation exposed by Daniel Shay's rebellion lead to the call for a revision of the Articles of Confederation resulting in the Constitutional Convection and our present constitution.
