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.