The Founding Fathers initially implemented the Articles of Confederation in midst of the Revolutionary War. At the time, the nation was a collection of independent states combining forces fighting for independence from Great Britain. The Founding Fathers, however, soon came to the realization that despite the fact that the United States was now a free country, thirteen independent states would be vulnerable to threats of upheaval from within. Thus, they adopted the Articles of Confederation. However, the Articles were in fact very much flawed. Due to past experience with Great Britain, the thirteen colonies adopted a constitution with limited powers. Each state regulated its own commerce without regard to the other states. For instance, Pennsylvania might pass a law to protect its own economy that had a consequence of preventing trade between Virginia and New York. Moreover, the issue of congress being unable to raise the money to pay for the services it was obligated to provide was beginning to become a growing concern for the Founding Fathers. Furthermore, one of the crucial fears the Founding Fathers faced was …show more content…
Shay's Rebellion, the most prominent act of defiance toward federal authority, was a series of protests in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers throughout the states of New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Massachusetts against state and local governments of tax collections. Due to bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes farmers faced the possibility of losing their farms. Although unsuccessful, the rebellion led by Daniel Shay, a former captain in the Continental army, alarmed politicians and ultimately called for a revision or replacement of the Articles of