Shays Rebellion was an
armed uprising in
Massachusetts (mostly in and around
Springfield) during 1786 and 1787. Revolutionary War veteran
Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels (called
Shaysites) in rising up against perceived economic injustices and suspension of civil rights by Massachusetts, and in a later attempt to capture the United States' national weapons arsenal at the U.S.
Armory at Springfield. Although Shays' Rebellion met with defeat militarily against a privately-raised militia, it prompted numerous national leaders (including
George Washington, who came out of retirement to deal with issues raised by Shays' Rebellion) to call for a stronger national government to suppress future rebellions, resulting in the
U.S. Constitutional Convention and according to historian Leonard L. Richards, "fundamentally altering the course of U.S. history."