How did shays rebellion influence lawmakers' decision to create a federal government?

Shays’ Rebellion further underlined to Washington and other American leaders the weakness of the Articles of Confederation. Although plans for a Constitutional Convention were already under way, the uprising in Massachusetts led to further calls for a stronger national government and influenced the ensuing debate in Philadelphia that led to the drafting of the U. S. Constitution in the summer of 1787.

The main impact of Shays' Rebellion on the formation of the Constitution was a federal government that was more powerful and capable of keeping the states in order. The rebellion made delegates fearful of the possibility of the entire country collapsing into anarchy in the absence of a powerful central government.