Question

How did the the outcome of shay's rebellion serve the federalist side in the ratification debate?

Answer 1

Answer:

Shays’ rebellion led Washington and other Nationalists in early independence America like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison to see that the Articles of Confederation were inadequate because they limited how the federal government could respond to uprisings like Shay's Rebellion. This led the Nationalists or Federalists as they are also known to ratify the constitution at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

Explanation:

Daniel Shays was a small landowner who fought in the Revolutionary War but was never paid. He returned home to find that he was being charged for debts while he was away fighting the war and he had no means to pay. There were many in his community of Springfield, MA in the same situation. Shays eventually became one of the leaders of the uprisings against the taxes the state of Massachusetts was trying to exact. The rebellion proved that the United States was vulnerable as a federal entity under the Articles of Confederation and led many figures like George Washington to advocate for strengthening the federal government vis-a-vis the states so as to prevent similar challenges in the future.